It will likely take weeks or months for federal investigators to determine exactly what caused the container ship. shock and collapse Tuesday at the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland. However, shipping industry experts, engineers, and law enforcement began gathering information from videos, photos, and testimonies about the disaster.
The accident appears to have been caused by a perfect storm of mechanical failure, outdated bridge design, and unlucky timing and location.
The Singapore-flagged, 948-foot container ship Dali experienced a power problem while leaving the Port of Baltimore.Momentary loss of propulsion” apparently try to slow down It turned out that the ship had failed. At 1:28 a.m., the Dali rammed into one of the bridge's two main piers, causing nearly all of the 2.6-mile-long structure to fall into the Patapsco River.
About 90 seconds before the crash, Dali's crew issued a mayday call, allowing authorities to shut down traffic to the bridge. Maryland Governor Wes Moore (Democratic) said this at a press conference. Press conference It was announced Tuesday that a distress call and the quick action of law enforcement undoubtedly saved lives.However, eight construction workers I can't escape The bridge before it collapses. Two people were rescued from the water and six others are presumed dead.
contrary to countless conspiracy theories The claim, popular on the right, comes as federal and local officials stress there is no evidence of wrongdoing. Maritime experts have described the incident as a freak accident.
„Having a power outage on the way to the bridge is just the worst-case scenario,“ said Michael Kucharski, a former maritime investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board. told CBS News.
Video of the incident shows the ship's lights dimming as it approaches the bridge. The ship then turns steadily to starboard and makes direct contact with one of the support structures on the south side of the bridge.
„Everything that could go wrong went wrong, and unfortunately it was right next to a bridge,“ said Kevin Calnan, a maritime professor at California State University's Maritime Academy. told The Independent. „When it comes to engine failures and situations like this, it's rare. And it's very rare that this is in a port area.“
Dali was working alone when the failure occurred. Two tugboats helped guide the ship from the pier, but did not escort it from the port. The Baltimore Banner reported.. Experts told the media it was unclear whether escort tugboats could have intervened and prevented the disaster.
The Singapore Maritime and Port Authority said the crew dropped the ship's anchor in a desperate attempt to slow it after losing propulsion. statement. Clay Diamond, president of the American Pilots Association, an industry group for maritime pilots, said: told the Associated Press The captain also ordered the rudder to be turned hard to the left to prevent the ship from turning to the right.
Kyle McAvoy, Robson Forensic Maritime Safety Specialist and former Coast Guard Captain. He declined to speculate on the cause of the accident, noting that the federal investigation will look closely at any mechanical or operational defects. But propulsion failures can occur on large cargo ships, he said.
„As a result of these things, there are steps that professional seafarers take,“ he said. „It's a very complex problem. Basically, most ships of this size are like cities that move on water. There's all kinds of machines that drive propulsion systems and machines that drive electrical systems. To do that, we have to maintain the factory.”
McAvoy said the crew is taking operational steps to deal with the problem, including dropping anchor if power or engines are lost.
„How everything fits into this situation is something that will have to be determined during the investigation process,“ he said.
Large cargo ships are often equipped with redundant systems, meaning there was likely to be multiple failures that caused the ship to lose control. Two maritime experts spoke. Baltimore banner. Capt. Jeffrey Spillane, dean of the School of Maritime Education and Training at the State University of New York System Maritime, told the magazine that black smoke was seen rising from the ship before the collision, indicating the ship had experienced a catastrophic problem. He said he was there.
„This is a big, obvious problem that tells us there was a lot more going on,“ Spillane said. „We should have made multiple layoffs to prevent that from happening.“
Experts are also focusing on vulnerabilities in the nearly 50-year-old Key Bridge. As bridge engineer Matt Dersch pointed out in a series of articles, unlike more modern bridges, the Keys were not built to withstand ship strikes. Post Dear X, I used to be on Twitter. He noted that the lock is similar to the original Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa Bay, Florida, which collapsed in 1980 after colliding with a cargo ship.
One way to prevent such catastrophic events is to construct barriers known as „dolphins“ that protect bridge piers.
„This is a mass of rock, sand, and steel that serves to stop ships before they come into contact with the bridge,“ Darsch wrote, noting that the replacement of Baltimore's bridges will include this protective infrastructure. He added that he was looking forward to it.
Tuesday's disaster has already begun discussions about what should be done to better protect bridge infrastructure from similar incidents. Retrofitting existing bridges with concrete dolphin structures is expensive. One such anti-collision system is being built on the Delaware Memorial Bridge in Wilmington. $93 million price tag.
At a White House press briefing on Wednesday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the federal investigation would likely help determine „whether currently known design features influenced this incident.“ Stated.
„It's hard to overstate the impact of this conflict,“ he says. „It's not only as big as a building, it's actually as big as a block. 100,000 tons are flowing into this pier at once.“
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into the Baltimore bridge collapse.in Press conference On Tuesday, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said the investigation was „very extensive“ and included an examination of the ship's data recorders, information on the ship's operational and safety history, the shipowner's company policies, bridge construction and protective structures, and more. He said that includes collection.
„The NTSB provides facts, not speculation,“ she said. „So there's not much to share at this time.“
Asked Wednesday about the NTSB investigation, Buttigieg said, „What's being discussed is whether any currently known design features had an impact on this incident.“