Moments before it crashed into the Francis Scott Key bridge, the cargo vessel called ‘Dali’, with an all-Indian crew on board, issued a mayday call saying it had lost power, including to its engines.
In the CCTV video that captured the trajectory of the ship and its subsequent collision into the Baltimore bridge, there’s a moment when all the lights on the ship go out. The lights come back on momentarily before they go out again a few seconds later.
The lights come back on thanks to the generator kicking in but it did not restore power to the ship’s propulsion.
The ship that left the Baltimore port around 1 am was, at this point, was moving at 8 knots or 15 kmph.
As per a trade association for maritime pilots, the pilot of the ship tried to slow it down before the crash.
As per a report in the Associated Press, the pilot immediately ordered the rudder hard to port to keep the ship from turning right.
“The pilot also ordered the port anchor be dropped, which it was,” said Clay Diamond, executive director of the American Pilots’ Association.
The pilot also contacted a dispatch office to get the bridge shut down.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore said the crew informed that they had lost power and that helped alert the transport department that acted quickly to stop traffic on the bridge. At 1.28 am on March 26, the ship struck a pier of the bridge, causing the bridge to collapse within seconds.
While authorities swung into action and stopped vehicles from using the bridge, there were labourers still working to fix potholes on the bridge. When the container ship struck the pier, they went into the Patapsco river. Two workers were rescued, one is believed to be in a serious condition. The remaining six who plunged into the waters are presumed dead.
The bridge was a main thoroughfare for drivers between New York and Washington with an estimated 31,000 cars crossing the bridge daily.
The Singapore-owned vessel was on its way from Baltimore to Colombo.
All vessel traffic from Baltimore port has now been suspended till the channel can be cleared. This is likely to have an impact on some supply chains as Baltimore is a key port on the East side, though the exact extent of the impact is likely to be clearer in the days ahead.
President Biden has said that many lives had been saved with the quick thinking response of the crew. “Personnel on board the ship were able to alert the Maryland transport department that they had lost control of their vessel. As a result, local authorities were able to close the bridge before the bridge was struck, which undoubtedly saved lives.”
He has said he will try and visit Baltimore soon with the federal government promising to fund the cost of building a new bridge. “It’s my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge and I expect the Congress to support my effort, ” said the US President.
As the inquiry looks into the exact cause of the ship losing power and control before it struck the bridge, investigators will also look into why the 47-year old bridge did not have any pier protection.
