The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the US released a preliminary report yesterday into the Dali containership’s fatal allision with Baltimore’s largest bridge.
The vessel, managed by Synergy Group and on charter to Maersk, experienced electrical blackouts about 10 hours before leaving the Port of Baltimore and again shortly before it slammed into the Francis Key Bridge in the early hours of March 26, killing six construction workers, federal investigators said.
The first power outage occurred after a crewmember mistakenly closed an exhaust damper while conducting maintenance, causing one of the ship’s diesel engines to stall, investigators said. Shortly after leaving Baltimore, the ship crashed into one of the bridge’s supporting columns because another power outage, clearly captured in video footage, caused it to lose steering and propulsion.
The board said the fatal outage came about four minutes before the crash when electrical breakers unexpectedly tripped causing a loss of power to all shipboard lighting and most equipment when it was 1 km from the bridge.
The Dali crew restored power, but another blackout occurred about 320 m from the bridge, which stopped all three steering pumps. The crew was unable to move the rudder to steer.
The NTSB said yesterday it will continue evaluating the design and operation of the Dali’s power distribution system including its breakers. Examination of damage to the vessel will continue when the ship is clear of debris and moved to a shoreside facility.
Yesterday the Port of Baltimore announced that the Fort McHenry Limited Access Channel has officially reopened to an available depth of 13.7 m for commercial vessel traffic daily from 8:00 pm to 6:00 am. The three other shallow temporary channels will remain open.
On Monday, a controlled demolition was held to safely remove a section of the bridge from the Dali.
The port’s 15 m deep main channel is expected to reopen by the end of May.