On Tuesday, a tragic accident occurred when a container ship named Dali crashed into a pillar of the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore, US. The accident caused the bridge to collapse, and as a result, six construction workers who were repairing potholes on the road surface were thrown into the water. The workers, who were presumed to be from Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador, are still missing and are believed to have lost their lives. The port of Baltimore, which is one of the busiest ports on the US Eastern Seaboard, has been indefinitely closed due to the accident. In addition, the accident has created a traffic quagmire for Baltimore and the surrounding region.
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recovered the data recorder, also known as the black box, from the freight ship involved in the accident. They have also interviewed the ship’s crew and other survivors to determine how and why the accident occurred. Furthermore, a highway team will be investigating the twisted remains of the collapsed bridge to determine the cause of the accident.
The ship had reported a loss of propulsion shortly before impact and dropped anchor to slow the vessel, giving transportation authorities time to halt traffic on the bridge before the crash. That move likely prevented a higher death toll, authorities said. It was unclear whether authorities also tried to alert the work crew ahead of the impact.
The NTSB’s investigation will involve taking photos of the ship and the bridge, getting electronic logs, and interviewing first responders. The agency will also examine whether contaminated fuel played a role in the ship’s power loss. The ship’s safety record has also drawn attention, as it was involved in an incident in the port of Antwerp, Belgium, in 2016, hitting a quay as it tried to exit the North Sea container terminal. An inspection in 2023 carried out in Chile found “propulsion and auxiliary machinery” deficiencies, according to data on the Equasis public website, which provides information on ships. Nonetheless, Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority said that the vessel passed two separate foreign-port inspections in June and September 2023.
Video footage on social media showed the vessel slamming into the 47-year-old Key Bridge, causing it to collapse in darkness. The ship caught fire, and all 22 crew members on board were accounted for, according to the management company Synergy Marine Pte Ltd.
The bridge carries about 31,000 vehicles across the harbor daily and serves as the main route for motorists between New York and Washington seeking to avoid downtown Baltimore. It opened in 1977 and was named after the Star-Spangled Banner author. The loss of the bridge has snarled roadways across Baltimore, forcing motorists onto two other congested harbor crossings and complicating daily commutes and regional traffic detours for months or even years to come.
Tuesday’s disaster may be the worst US bridge collapse since 2007, when the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis plunged into the Mississippi River, killing 13 people.
