Ship lost power hours before leaving port, hitting Baltimore bridge: NTSB
(NewsNation) — A preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report has revealed that the container ship Dali lost power several times before its collision with a Baltimore bridge on March 26, including twice the previous day.
The report detailed the events leading up to the Dali striking the Francis Scott Key Bridge early that morning, resulting in the deaths of six construction workers.
The first power outage occurred after a crew member mistakenly closed an exhaust damper while conducting maintenance about 10 hours before the fatal accident, causing one of the ship’s diesel engines to stall, investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board said in their preliminary report.
After the initial blackout, investigators say a backup generator automatically came on. It continued to run for a short period — until insufficient fuel pressure caused it to kick off again, 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 upon its departure, according to the report.
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After leaving from the dock the following day, the electrical breakers on the Dali tripped about 0.6 miles from the bridge, causing a power outage. Crews worked to restore power, but the ship’s electrical breakers tripped again around 0.2 miles from the bridge.
While the Dali did regain power before the impact, the crew was unable to regain propulsion systems in time to avoid the bridge. The crew had also called for an assist from a nearby tugboat, the Eric McAllister, to help steer it away from the bridge. The tug was unable to reach the Dali in time to avert the collision.
The NTSB is still investigating the ship’s electrical systems, and whether there is any connection between the earlier power outages on March 25 and the failures just before the collision.
All members of the Dali’s crew and both harbor pilots, a senior pilot and an apprentice pilot, tested negative for drugs and alcohol. Testing also found no concerns with the fuel used in the ship.
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The agency is still working to determine a probable cause of the crash and is looking into the Dali’s electrical and propulsion systems as well as impact mitigation efforts used on the bridge supports.
NTSB head Jennifer Homendy and other officials will be testifying in Congress on Wednesday regarding the collision.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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