On 26 March a container ship collided with Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, resulting in its collapse, leaving six presumed dead and disrupting crucial infrastructure. Interestingly, forty years ago a container ship lost power and hit the bridge, but it stood firm. That prompts questions about whether bridge designs are strong enough to prevent future disasters. Many US bridges, built when container ships were much smaller, lack safeguards against modern, massive vessels like the one involved in the Baltimore incident. Experts suggest that this catastrophe underscores the need to assess the resilience of America's ageing  infrastructure against impacts from today's colossal ships. Meanwhile, it has emerged that the crew of the ship issued a Mayday call just before the ship struck the bridge, causing authorities to stop traffic and thus potentially save lives: see