Early Tuesday morning a cargo ship apparently lost power and crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse into the Patapsco River. Eight workers were on the bridge at the time of the accident — two have been rescued, while six remain missing and are presumed dead.

The United States Coast Guard said it was suspending search and rescue efforts as of 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, but would resume recovery efforts in the morning.

President Biden vowed to move quickly to rebuild the bridge and resume operations at the Port of Baltimore.

Here’s what we know so far about the incident.

What happened?

Shortly before 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, the Dali, a massive cargo ship under a Singaporean flag that was bound from Baltimore to Sri Lanka, apparently lost power shortly before crashing into a pillar that helped stabilize the 1.6-mile-long bridge. The crew sent out a “Mayday” signal that allowed officials to stop traffic before more cars entered the bridge.

“We’re thankful that between the ‘Mayday’ and collapse that we had officials who were able to begin to stop the flow of traffic so more cars were not up on the bridge,” Gov. Wes Moore said at a news conference Tuesday.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said in a statement that the ship, which is as long as three football fields, lost propulsion prior to the crash, and followed emergency protocols by dropping anchor. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it was investigating those claims.

The loss of power, however, came as the Dali was traveling at a speed of eight knots, roughly nine miles per hour, and left the ship “unable to maintain the desired heading,” the statement read.

Roberto Leon, a Virginia Tech engineering professor, told the Associated Press that the bridge could not “absorb anywhere near the energy that this humongous ship is bringing. So it’s going to break.”

The Dali was also involved in a 2016 crash at a Belgium port, according to Business Insider.

Photos from the scene

For more photos, click here.

The economic impact

The collapse of the bridge could cause significant economic disruption and lead to months of commuter headaches for the residents of the area who relied upon it for daily commutes.

“There is no question that this will be a major and protracted impact to supply chains,” Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said during a Tuesday press conference.

In remarks delivered from the White House, President Biden noted that 15,000 people depended on the port for their livelihoods, and vowed that the federal government would pay for the cost of rebuilding the bridge.

“We’re going to send all the federal resources they need as we respond to this emergency,” Biden said. “We’re going to rebuild that port together.”

Baltimore is the biggest single port in the U.S. for handling automobiles and light trucks, Reuters reported, and the loss of the bridge, along with the ongoing recovery efforts, threaten to disrupt that industry.

Following the bridge collapse, more than 40 ships, including cargo vessels, tugboats and cruise ships now remain trapped in the port.

In total, nearly 140,000 jobs are linked to port activities, according to Gov. Moore’s office.

What’s next?

On Tuesday morning, the Maryland Transportation Authority issued a traffic advisory, telling motorists to use I-95 and I-895 as alternatives to I-695 and the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

I-695’s outer loop is closed at Maryland Route 10 (exit 2), and the inner loop is closed at Maryland Route 157/Peninsula Expressway (exit 43), the authority said, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Traffic delays are likely to last for weeks, if not months, as officials look for ways to cope with the loss of a major artery for commuters.

The bridge collapse also means that two cruise ships that dock in Baltimore but are currently at sea — Carnival Cruise Line‘s Carnival Legend and Royal Caribbean‘s Vision of the Seas — will be diverted to an alternative port when their voyages are scheduled to end on March 31 and April 4, respectively, the Points Guy reported.

A third ship, Carnival’s Pride, had been scheduled to relocate its home port from Tampa to Baltimore on April 15. Carnival announced Tuesday afternoon that it would temporarily relocate its Baltimore operations to Norfolk, Va.

What we still don’t know

The NTSB will conduct a full investigation on the cause of the crash that left the bridge in pieces, so we may learn more about what precipitated what is being called an accident.

It’s unclear exactly how long it will take to clear the wreckage from the collapsed bridge, begin construction on a new bridge, resume full operations at the port and return traffic patterns to normal.

In 2007, when the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge collapsed in Minneapolis, Minn., it took roughly a full year to construct its replacement, which cost $234 million. That bridge, however, was roughly one-third the length of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.