Dali cargo ship had two power blackouts just hours before slamming into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, bombshell report reveals

Federal investigators revealed that the Dali freighter suffered an electrical outage 10 hours before it left the Port of Baltimore and again just before it crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

On March 26, the ship suffered a power outage and crashed into one of the Key Bridge’s support columns, causing the entire bridge to collapse and killing six construction workers. The ship has been aground since then and the explosions caused by the crew were a major step in freeing the 300-meter-long ship.

The first power outage occurred after a crew member accidentally closed an exhaust muffler while performing maintenance, causing one of the ship’s diesel engines to shut down, National Transportation Safety Board investigators said in their preliminary report.

Shortly after leaving Baltimore early on March 26, the ship struck one of the bridge’s support columns as another power failure caused it to lose steering and propulsion power at precisely the worst moment.

The report provides new details about how the ship’s crew addressed the power problems they encountered while docked in Baltimore. According to the Dutch Safety Board, a full investigation could take a year or more.

According to the report, testing of the ship’s fuel revealed no concerns regarding its quality.

The Dali was en route from Baltimore to Sri Lanka, loaded with shipping containers and enough supplies for a month’s journey.

The Indian and Sri Lankan men on board have not been allowed to leave since the disaster as the FBI investigation into the cause of the Dali’s power outage and subsequent bridge destruction continues.

After the initial blackout caused by the closed muffler, investigators say a backup generator was automatically turned on.

It continued to run for a short period until insufficient fuel pressure caused it to restart, resulting in a second blackout.

That’s when crew members made changes to the ship’s electrical configuration, switching from one transformer and breaker system that had been in use for several months to another that was active at departure, the report said.

Investigators were unable to draw a direct line between these earlier power problems and the power outage that ultimately caused the bridge to collapse.

“The NTSB is still investigating the electrical configuration following the initial blackout at the port and its potential impact on the events that occurred during the accident voyage,” investigators wrote.

The safety council launched its investigation almost immediately after the collapse, which left six members of a roadworks crew dead.

Investigators boarded the ship to document the scene and collect evidence, including the ship’s data recorder and information from the engine room, said board chair Jennifer Homendy. They also interviewed the captain and crew members.

“Our mission is to determine why something happened, how it happened and to prevent it from happening again,” Homendy said at a news conference days after the disaster.

The preliminary report details the chaotic moments leading up to the bridge’s collapse, as crews rushed to resolve a series of electrical faults that cropped up in quick succession as disaster loomed.

At 1:25 a.m. on March 26, when the Dali was just over half a mile from the bridge, the circuit breakers that power most of the ship’s equipment and lighting tripped unexpectedly, causing a power outage.

The main propulsion diesel engine automatically shut down after the cooling pumps lost power and the ship lost control.

Crew members were able to temporarily restore electricity by manually closing the faulty circuit breakers, the report said.

Around that time, the ship’s pilots called in tugboats to guide the wayward vessel.

According to the report, the tugboats that guided the ship out of the port had already left earlier, as per normal practice.

Crew members also began dropping anchor, and the pilot dispatcher called Maryland Transportation Authority police and reported the ship had lost power. The pilots’ coordinator informed the Coast Guard.

The ship was less than a quarter mile from the bridge when it suffered a second power outage due to more broken surf, according to the report.

The crew restored power again, but it was too late to avoid hitting the bridge.

One of the pilots ordered the rudder to be turned at the last minute, but because the main engine remained disabled, there was no propulsion to assist with steering, the report said.

They also made an emergency call, allowing police to stop traffic heading to the bridge.

At 1:29 a.m., the 2.6-mile steel span crashed into the Patapsco River. The construction workers were in their vehicles during a break when disaster struck.

The last bodies of the victims were recovered last week.

One member of the seven-member roadworks crew survived the collapse by somehow freeing himself from his work truck.

He was rescued from the water later that morning. A road maintenance inspector also survived by running to safety in the moments before the bridge fell.

On Monday, crews conducted a controlled demolition to demolish the largest remaining span of the collapsed bridge, which landed draped over the bow of the Dali and trapped the grounded ship among the wreckage.

The ship is expected to be refloated and returned to the Port of Baltimore in the coming days.

According to the report, the plane arrived in the US from Singapore on March 19, a week before the crash. It made stops in Newark, New Jersey and Norfolk, Virginia, before coming to Baltimore.

Investigators said they were not aware of any other power outages at those ports.

They said they are working with Hyundai, the manufacturer of the ship’s electrical system, to “identify the cause(s) of the fire breakers unexpectedly opening while approaching the Key Bridge and the subsequent power outage.”

The board’s preliminary report released Tuesday is likely to include a fraction of the findings that will be presented in the final report, which is expected to take more than a year to complete.

The FBI has also launched a criminal investigation into the circumstances that led to the collapse.