State Police News

We are at the one-year since the Francis Scott Key (FSK) Bridge collapsed over the Patapsco River’s Fort McHenry Channel in Baltimore, Maryland. Nearly 100 percent of the wreckage and debris removal was conducted by the Jones Act private sector U.S. maritime industry. The FSK collapsed at about 1:28 a.m. local time on March 26, 2025 after the container ship MV DALI lost power and collided with one of bridge’s support piers. Six construction workers died in the collapse, while two other workers survived the fall into the freezing water.

Norwegian police said on Friday they had seized and boarded a Norwegian ship with an all-Russian crew on suspicion of involvement in causing damage to a telecoms cable in the Baltic Sea, the second vessel to be named by investigators in the case.The Silver Dania cargo ship was seized at the request of Latvian authorities, and with the help of Norway's coast guard, police in the northern Norwegian city of Tromsoe said."It is suspected that the ship has been involved in serious damage to a fibre cable in the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Sweden…

- An expanding Hurricane Milton churned toward Florida's battered Gulf Coast on Tuesday, where more than 1 million people were ordered to evacuate a day before the monster storm is forecast to slam the Tampa Bay area.Milton, which exploded on Monday into one of the most intense Atlantic hurricanes on record, was forecast to make landfall late on Wednesday, threatening a stretch of Florida's densely populated west coast that is still reeling from the devastating Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago.A direct hit on the bay would be the first since 1921, when the now-sprawling Tampa-St.

Summer is easily the busiest season for the U.S. Coast Guard. New England is no exception, people flock to the beaches to swim, and recreational boating is at its peak. Many destinations along the coasts are hot spots for tourism and increased safety checks by local Coast Guard units. However, sometimes people of coastal states forget that the Coast Guard's presence extends inward to our inland lakes and waterways.One of those inland bodies of water is Lake Champlain, and not only is it shared by New York State and Vermont, but it's also part of Canada.

“The enormity of this disaster is hard to imagine without seeing it in person…It may sound dramatic but given the wreckage field created by the collapsed bridge, the environment divers are working in, and the dangers posed to them, is like cleaning the site of 9/11 with blinders on.” - Rick Benoit, Emergency Management specialist at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) North Atlantic Division (NAD), from USACE news report.Col. Estee Pinchasin is commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Baltimore District.

Maryland-based Ocean Craft Marine announced it has built and delivered a new state-of-the-art law enforcement boat to the Virginia State Police (VSP) Special Operations Division.According to the builder, the 9.5-meter Law-Enforcement Interceptor vessel boasts advanced features that will greatly amplify the VSP’s tactical response capabilities and provide for an enhanced low visibility navigation capability. The boat’s advanced Air Ride hull form provides for incredible high-performance and extreme agility even in the most challenging conditions.

These new photos, courtesy of the Maryland State Police Aviation Command, show the Francis Scott Key Bridge and the shrinking amount of steel wreckage remaining in Baltimore’s Fort McHenry Federal Channel.Unified Command cleared a 400-foot-wide swath of the federal channel May 20, permitting all pre-collapse, deep-draft commercial vessels transit of the Port of Baltimore.Unified Command continues to clear wreckage from the bottom of the Patapsco River, projecting to fully restore the Fort McHenry Federal Channel to its original 700-foot width and 50-foot depth by June 8-10.

The safest and swiftest method to remove the bridge piece from on top of the M/V Dali is by precision cuts made with small charges, said the Unified Command on Thursday as salvors were preparing charges. The charges will enable the upcoming precision cuts to remove section 4 from the port side of the bow of the Dali.The Singaporean-flagged container vessel Dali allided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26. The bridge, which connects Hawkins Point and Dundalk, Maryland…

Unified Command salvage teams have located the sixth victim of the Baltimore bridge collapse.Maryland State Police investigators along with officers from the Maryland Transportation Authority Police and the FBI responded to the scene and recovered the body of a sixth construction worker. The victim is identified as José Mynor López, 37, of Baltimore, Maryland.“With heavy hearts, today marks a significant milestone in our recovery efforts and providing closure to the loved ones of the six workers who lost their lives in this tragic event,” said Colonel Roland L.

Salvage crews within the Key Bridge Unified Command continue to prepare for the complex task of removing the large piece of bridge lying on top of the M/V Dali.Prior to removing the bridge piece, salvage teams must meticulously analyze and factor in numerous hazards and obstacles resulting from the bridge's impact. Crushed containers, hull damage, and weight shifts are among the critical considerations crews must address during the bridge removal and refloating operation of the…

Key Bridge Unified command salvors have begun preparing for the removal of bridge section four, which lies across the bow of the M/V Dali.The operation requires careful handling of roadbed material, crushed containers and bridge fragments currently resting on the M/V Dali’s bow.The salvage teams are preparing for the refloat of the Dali, ensuring all aspects of the wreckage impacts are thoroughly evaluated and addressed. "The complexities of this next phase of operations require thorough preparation, strategic planning, and specialized expertise," said Capt.

The Unified Command recovered the body of another missing victim at the Key Bridge incident site on May 1, 2024.The victim is identified as Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, 49, of Glen Burnie, Maryland.Unified Command salvage teams located one of the missing construction vehicles and promptly notified the Maryland Department of State Police. Police investigators along with officers from the Maryland Transportation Authority Police and the FBI then recovered the body of a fifth construction worker inside a red truck.

Approximately one month has passed since the Singaporean-flagged container vessel M/V Dali allided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26. The bridge, which connects Hawkins Point and Dundalk, Maryland, collapsed into the lower Patapsco River, bringing all maritime traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore to a standstill.The Unified Command offers its reflection on the response efforts underway:During the incident involving the Dali, eight road crew workers, who were on break from repairing potholes, were present on the bridge when it collapsed.

The Captain of the Port (COTP) has established the Fort Carroll Temporary Alternate Channel, which is on the northeast side of the main channel in the vicinity of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and will provide limited access for commercially essential vessels.The channel has a controlling depth of 20 feet, a 300-foot horizontal clearance, and a vertical clearance of 135 feet, and will facilitate additional commercially essential vessel traffic through the port of Baltimore.“This additional channel increases the types of vessels able to transit inbound and outbound the port of Baltimore…

Unified Command dive teams have recovered the body of a missing person at the Key Bridge incident site in Baltimore.The recovered individual was identified as 38-year-old Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval.Unified Command salvage dive teams located what they believed to be the missing construction worker and notified the Maryland Department of State Police. Maryland State Police Underwater Recovery Team deployed in coordination with dive teams from allied law enforcement partners and recovered Suazo-Sandoval.Maryland State Police investigators…

The pilot of the container ship that knocked down a highway bridge into Baltimore Harbor had radioed for tugboat help and reported a power loss minutes earlier, federal safety officials said on Wednesday, citing audio from the ship's "black box" data recorder.The head of the National Transportation Safety Board also said that Francis Scott Key Bridge, a traffic artery over the harbor built in 1976, lacked structural engineering redundancies common to newer spans, making it more…

Divers on Wednesday recovered the remains of two of the six workers missing since they were tossed into Baltimore Harbor from a highway bridge that collapsed into shipping lanes when a faltering cargo freighter rammed into the structure, officials said on Wednesday.The bodies were pulled from the mouth of the Patapsco River a day after the massive container ship lost power and its ability to maneuver before plowing into a support pylon of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, knocking…

Rescuers have lost hope of finding more survivors of the Baltimore bridge collapse, the coast guard said, as efforts switched on Wednesday to looking for bodies of the missing and more answers to why a container ship smashed into the span.Search divers were expected to return near dawn to the waters surrounding the twisted ruins of the bridge in Baltimore Harbor to search for six workers missing and now presumed dead.The disaster has forced the indefinite closure of the Port of Baltimore, one of the busiest on the U.S.

Search divers were expected to return near dawn on Wednesday to the waters surrounding the twisted ruins of a bridge knocked down in Baltimore Harbor by a faltering cargo ship, leaving six workers missing and presumed dead.The disaster also forced the indefinite closure of the Port of Baltimore, one of the busiest on the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, and created a traffic quagmire for Baltimore and the surrounding region.As the odds of their survival vanished, the search for the six workers was suspended on Tuesday evening…

Six workers were missing and presumed dead from a bridge that collapsed in Baltimore Harbor early on Tuesday after a massive cargo ship crippled by a power loss rammed into the structure, forcing the closure of one of the busiest ports on the U.S. Eastern Seaboard.With dive teams facing increasingly treacherous conditions in the darkened, wreckage-strewn waters, active search-and-rescue operations were suspended about 18 hours after the accident, U.S. Coast Guard and Maryland…

A climate change protest off Australia's east coast disrupted operations at the country's biggest coal export port on Saturday, the port operator said.Climate activist group Rising Tide, which claimed responsibility for the action, said around 1,500 people were at the protest, 300 of them in the shipping channel near the Port of Newcastle, as part of a 30-hour blockade set to run until 4 p.m. (0900 GMT) on Sunday.Climate change is a divisive issue in Australia, the world's biggest exporter of thermal coal behind Indonesia…

Salvage and post-fire recovery operations continue on the Grande Costa D’Avorio car carrier at Port Newark as crews work to transfer vehicles and cargo from the vessel to the port facility.As previously reported by MarineLink.com, Grimaldi's cargo vessel Grande Costa D’Avorio caught fire on July 5 at the Port of Newark. Two firefighters died in the incident. The fire was extinguished by the morning of July 11.To date, all vehicles have been removed from the cargo decks of the ship…

A joint U.S. and Australian law enforcement operation busted an international drug ring after intercepting 2.4 tonnes of cocaine aboard a vessel off the coast of South America that had been bound for Australia.The cocaine, linked to a Mexican drug cartel, had a street value of around A$1 billion ($677 million), and was equivalent to half of Australia's estimated annual consumption, making the seizure one of the biggest that Australian police have been involved in.Twelve suspects have been arrested and charged in the case…