DRAMATIC footage has captured the moment a cargo ship exploded in Baltimore.

A fireball was seen coming from the vessel before plumes of thick smoke filled the air on Monday evening.

The blast happened on board the W-Sapphire vessel – a Liberian registered ship that is heading to Port Louis, Mauritius. 

And, it happened in the Patapsco River near to where the city’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in March 2024.

No injuries were reported and all 23 people on board the cargo ship were accounted for.

The ship stayed afloat and was assisted by tug boats, according to the Baltimore Fire Department.

But, officials said the boat showed signs consistent with a fire and an explosion.

The vessel, which is 751 foot long, is being moved to an anchorage area and is being investigated by the Coast Guard.

Video showing smoke coming from the vessel, which was built in 2012, was shared online.

And, witnesses recalled what they saw.

“We heard a huge explosion,” Jay Steinmetz, who was on board a sailboat at the time, told the Fox affiliate WTTG-TV.

” I thought that they were blowing up part of the bridge, but obviously I could see after I turned my head that there was a 200-foot plume of smoke over the boat that we’d just seen.”

Steinmetz thought officials were demolishing what was remaining of the Francis Scott Key Bridge when he heard the explosion.

The cause of the blast remains unknown at this time.

Coast Guard officials have created a 2,000-yard safety zone around the blast site.

The explosion comes more than a year after six construction workers were killed when the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed.

The bridge came crashing down in seconds after the container ship Dali hit a supporting pier in March 2024.

Supply chains experienced a shock as vessels carrying goods were unable to pass through the Port of Baltimore in the immediate aftermath of the bridge collapse.

The Port of Baltimore is a major hub for the import and export of cars.

And, it’s among the top 20 ports in the US in terms of the number of containers handled.

It proved to be the deadliest bridge collapse the US had seen in more than a decade.

Officials estimate the replacement bridge, which is set to cost more than $1.7 billion, will be completed by 2028.

But, demolition work, which started in July, will take around nine months to complete.