Port Alert
Savannah, GA
August 19, 2025
Notices
Vessel – MV Sapphire / 751-foot merchant vessel W-Sapphire in Baltimore
Currently known:
- 1830/18th - Explosion on board vessel while in transit on Patapsco River main channel.
- Hold #2 claimed to take on water.
- Port closed, up to key bridge, only transit from C&D Canal to anchorage permitted until the hatch cover is located.
- Vessel currently anchored north of Bay Bridge at anchorage.
- No injuries have been reported at this time, and the cause of the explosion is under investigation.
- The Coast Guard has established a 2,000-yard safety zone around the incident location, spanning from the Key Bridge to Brewerton Angle Channel LB “14”.
- Reports state the fire has been extinguished and plans for the vessel are being formulated.
- At approximately 6:30 p.m., Sector Maryland - National Capital Region watchstanders received a call over VHF channel 16 from the W-Sapphire sating their had been an explosion aboard the vessel. The W-Sapphire was outbound from Baltimore Harbor with 23 crewmembers and 2 pilots aboard and was south of Fort Carroll at the time of the explosion. The report stated the vessel was transporting coal.
We do not expect this to affect our current scheduled Baltimore port calls.
