An explosion occurred on a cargo ship in Baltimore Monday night near the site of last year’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse.
There were 23 crew members and two pilots onboard the boat at the time of the 6:30 p.m. blast, though no one was injured, according to Baltimore fire officials.
Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the explosion on the ship, which was ferrying coal and headed to East Africa.
Videos show flames and smoke in the air as the boat sits on the Patapsco River.
The merchant vessel W-Sapphire, which measures 751 feet long and sails under a Liberian flag, was just beginning its departure from Baltimore’s harbor and was expected to arrive in the Port of Mauritius in about a month.
The Port of Baltimore said its main shipping channel was closed Tuesday morning and the U.S. Coast Guard was heading the investigation.
It’s unclear when the shipping channel will reopen. It was closed for months following the collapse of the Key Bridge in March 2024 after the container ship Dali crashed into a supporting column. Six members of a construction crew working on the bridge were killed.
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