Large ship collisions are some of the most destructive maritime accidents. When the Dali container ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early in the morning on March 26, it resulted in the complete collapse of the bridge and several fatalities. The extent of the environmental damage, costs, and timeline to clear the damage and reconstruct the bridge remain to be seen.
Timeline of the Accident
The container ship the Dali left the Port of Baltimore at 12:39 a.m. very early Tuesday morning. Alarms on the ship began going off at 1:24 a.m. The pilot on board the ship made radio calls asking for help and requested tugboat assistance at 1:26 a.m. About a minute later, the pilot asked for the ship to drop anchor and made commands regarding steering.
At 1:27 a.m. the pilot stated that the ship had lost all power and was going to make contact with the bridge. The transit authority contacted officers on the scene, who shut down traffic lanes leading onto the bridge. The ship hit the Key Bridge at 1:29 a.m. The bridge collapsed in less than a minute.
Investigating the Cause of the Accident
The investigators were able to board the ship and recover the data recorder. The recorder is not as high-tech as those used on aircraft, so it provides limited information. Investigators began reviewing the data recorder and interviewing the pilots and other crew members on board the ship at the time of the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating and expects to take month just to gather enough evidence to make a full report. The loss of power meant the pilots could not control the ship, leading to the crash. The full report aims to determine why the ship lost power and if any other factors contributed to the collision.
Synergy Marine Group, the management company for the Dali, has come under scrutiny since the incident. Its ships have been involved in three other deadly maritime accidents since 2018, including one collision.
Repercussions of the Accident
There were eight construction workers repairing the road on the bridge when it collapsed. Two workers were recovered alive. The search continued for the other six. They were soon declared most likely deceased, but the search continued for their remains.
By Thursday, authorities had recovered two bodies of workers in a vehicle underwater. Rescue workers identified other vehicles underwater, trapped under the wreckage of the bridge. The fatalities could have been much higher if police hadn’t acted very quickly to stop traffic on the bridge.
The loss to human life was just one of the many consequences of the collision. The container ship carried 764 tons of hazardous materials, including corrosives, flammables, and lithium ion batteries. The cleanup of these materials, and salvaging ship and bridge debris will be a massive undertaking with no known timeline yet.
The bridge was a major thoroughfare to and from the Port of Baltimore and through the city. Its loss will continue to create traffic and shipping issues for months or years. The bridge fragments are currently preventing large ships from getting through.
Maritime collisions are often serious but rarely as damaging as the Dali strike on the Key Bridge. Maritime workers are at risk when incidents like power failures on these massive ships occur. The full report from the NTSB should include lessons shipping companies can put into place to prevent such catastrophes in the future.