A MAJOR bridge in the US city of Baltimore has collapsed into the Patapsco River after the Singapore-flagged container vessel Dali, which is chartered by the Danish shipping giant Maersk, crushed into the Francis Scott Bridge.

The US Coast Guard said six people who were on the bridge are presumed dead and search and rescue efforts have been called off.

Earlier, two people were pulled from the river, Baltimore City Fire Department chief James Wallace said. One was not injured, and the other was taken to a local trauma centre in "very serious condition," he said.

The bridge snapped and plunged into the water at about 01:30 ET (05:30 GMT) along with vehicles and people. The 10,000-TEU boxship is now wedged into debris from the bridge, which is 3km (1.6 miles) long and part of a major highway.

Media reports say that Dali suffered a "power issue" and issued a distress call moments before the crash, officials say, but was travelling too quickly to change course.

The ship was being operated on behalf of AP Moller-Maersk on the 2M service between Asia and the US East Coast. The entire 22-member crew, reported to be of Indian nationality, had earlier alerted authorities to a "power issue" preceding the catastrophic event. The Dali was on its way from Baltimore to Colombo, Sir Lanka.

Lars Jensen, CEO of consultancy Vespucci Maritime, said: "This is a major disaster and will create significant problems on the US East Coast for US importers and exporters.

"The bridge collapse will mean that for the time being it will not be possible to get to the container terminals - or a range of the other ports terminals - in Baltimore."

In 2023 the terminals handled 1.1 million TEU. "This is some 21,000 TEU per week which now has to be routed through other ports in the region," Mr Jensen said.

"Additionally this means the cargo already gated into the Baltimore terminals would have to either wait an unknown period for the sealand to reopen or be gated back out and shifted to a different port."

Several container ships now appear to be trapped in the Port of Baltimore, and other have already starting rerouting to avoid the port, he said.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore says the bridge will be rebuilt "in a way that remembers the people this tragedy has impacted".

US President Joe Biden has said his government will cover the "entire cost" of rebuilding the bridge and getting the port functioning again".