COLLATERAL DAMAGE: Baltimore bridge collapse traps military ships on standby for war

X.com

3 days ago

Tom Craig on X: "Two of the US most capable military cargo ships are trapped in Baltimore by the bridge collapse." / X 

Two Of The Fastest U.S. Sealift Ships Trapped By Baltimore Bridge Collapse

The blocked entrance to the Port of Baltimore has stranded a total of four cargo ships that are on call to support U.S. military operations.

BYJOSEPH TREVITHICK|PUBLISHED MAR 27, 2024 3:53 PM EDT

The Times

5 days ago

Baltimore bridge collapse traps military ships on standby for war

NewsBreak

2 days ago

Two Of The Fastest U.S. Sealift Ships Trapped By Baltimore Bridge Collapse

All of the RRF ships in Baltimore are categorized status-wise as "ROS-5," meaning they should be capable of heading out within five days of getting an activation order under normal circumstances, according to MARAD. 

The War Zone has reached out to MARAD for more information about the RRF ships in Baltimore and what it is doing in response to yesterday's incident.

An overview of where RRF ships are homeported and their operating statuses as of October 2021. MARAD

Regardless, the current stranding of the Antares and Denebola in Baltimore is especially notable. The pair represents a quarter of the entire Algol class, which, as already noted, are especially fast and otherwise capable cargo ships. 

Originally built in the 1970s in shipyards in the Netherlands and what was then West Germany for the now-defunct U.S. commercial shipping company SeaLand, have a publicly stated top speed of 33 knots. Similarly-sized cargo ships more typically sail along at between 13 and 24 knots, depending on their exact configuration and load.

Two of the most capable military cargo ships in U.S. inventory are among the vessels now stuck in Baltimore following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge yesterday. 

• The two members of the Algol class, which are also some of the fastest cargo vessels of their general size anywhere in the world, and two other reserve sealift ships were in port in Baltimore when the incident occurred. 
• Readers can first get up to speed on what happened to the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which was struck by the container ship MV Dali, with The War Zone's initial reporting on the incident here.

The Algol class SS Antares and SS Denebola seen here in port in Baltimore in 2012. 500px via Wikimedia

At the time of writing, the movement of ships in or out of the Port of Baltimore continues to be suspended indefinitely due to the incident yesterday, which also remains under investigation. Six members of a construction team that was working on the bridge when the Dali struck it are now presumed to have died. Two other workers from that team were rescued, one of whom was hospitalized. There have been no other reported casualties and authorities say a mayday call from the crew of the Dali helped prevent a larger disaster. The ship remains pinned under a collapsed section of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and is severely damaged. 

• What the timelines might be for clearing the channel and repairing the bridge is unclear.

A satellite image from private firm Maxar showing the MV Dali trapped underneath a section of the collapsed after yesterday's incident. Maxar via X

"I've directed my team to move heaven and Earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible," President Joe Biden said yesterday. "It is my intention that the Federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge."

"This port is the top vehicle handling port in the United States," Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg told NPR's "Morning Edition" today. "We can't wait for the bridge work to be complete to see that channel reopened. There are vessels that are stuck inside right now and there's an enormous amount of traffic that goes through there. That's really important to the entire economy."

The vessels now stuck in Baltimore include the Algol class SS Antares and SS Denebola, both of which are part of the Ready Reserve Force (RRF) fleet. 

• The Transportation Department's Maritime Administration (MARAD) manages the RRF and its ships are crewed by civilian merchant mariners. 
• RRF ships fall under the control of the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC) when they are activated for operations. 
• The activation process for RRF ships, which are typically kept at a reduced operating status (ROS) with a skeleton crew until called upon, can take between five and 10 days depending on the vessel in question.

A satellite image taken in September 2023 showing the SS Antares and SS Denebola in port in Baltimore. The ships are both currently at this same spot. Google Earth

Two more members of the RRF fleet, the roll-on/roll-off cargo ships MV Cape Washington and MV Gary I. Gordon, are also in Baltimore. Cape Washington's sister ship MV Cape Wrath is homeported there, too, but online tracking data indicates that it is still somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean sailing west after leaving Belgium earlier this month.

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