Carnival's Legend ship docks in Norfolk in wake of Baltimore's Key Bridge collapse

BALTIMORE - Carnival cruise line's Legend docked in Norfolk, Virginia, on Sunday following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore last week.

The ship left for its voyage out of Baltimore on Sunday, March 24.

On Tuesday, a cargo ship collided with the Key Bridge, knocking it down and sending eight construction workers into the Patapsco River. Two were rescued, the bodies of two others were recovered and four more remain missing and are presumed dead.

The Port of Baltimore has been suspended for ships and vessels while crews clean up the channel.

Maryland was given $60 million of Emergency Relief funding for the cleanup efforts, which is currently underway. 

The port is the ninth-busiest in the United States, according to Census data, and handled more than $80 billion in imports and exports last year, the most in 20 years. It is also home to Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Norwegian cruise lines.

Directly, the port supports 15,300 jobs, while another 140,000 in the area are related to port activities. The jobs provide a combined $3.3 billion in personal income, according to a CBS News report. 

Cruise Lines International Association, the largest cruise industry trade association, says 12 cruise ships made 115 trips through Baltimore in 2024. And in 2023, about 444,000 cruise passengers moved through the port, the 29th largest in the U.S.

Ragina Ali, a representative of AAA, was on the Legend and sent WJZ photos of the end stop in Norfolk. The passengers were given bus rides back to their cars at the Port of Baltimore.