Cargo Ship Crashes into Baltimore Key Bridge

Tuesday morning at 1:30 cargo ship Dali, a Singapore registered ship leaving the Baltimore port for Sri Lanka, ran into the Francis Scott Key Bridge after loosing power.  Many questions have arisen on social media regarding the potential of a terrorist attack or cyber attack that could have caused this accident.  After the terror attack in Russia people are understandably on edge and concerned that another could happen closer to home, however this has been ruled out as of the printing of this article.  

Campbell University maritime historian and former merchant mariner Sal Mercogliano details what happened in his video ‘Ship Lost Power Before Hitting Key Bridge in Baltimore’ on his channel ‘What is Going on With Shipping?’. 

He explains that when the ship loses power it may have lost rudder control and would not have propulsion causing complete loss of control.  The smoke coming out of the port funnel as power came back on indicates an engine problem.  At this point he says the crew may be backing down to stop forward progress but this can cause the ship to start “pitching around”.  The port side anchor had been dropped, but the Dali started to veer out of the channel not able to stop forward progress due to speed.  Mercogliano explains that even if they dropped the anchors at the speed they were going it would not stop the vessel.  The ship hit the bridge causing the bridge to fall.

The Key Bridge is a mile and a half long, six lane bridge spanning the Patapsco River servicing more than 31,000 people every day.  This accident has been deemed a mass casualty incident with divers currently searching for victims.   Two people were removed from the water shortly after the accident, one in the hospital in very serious condition.  A mayday distress call was made stopping traffic from entering the bridge saving countless lives however authorities are not sure how many vehicles could be in the water.  6 construction workers doing pothole repair on the bridge are still unaccounted for.  Due to the temperature of the water it is unlikely any more survivors will be found at this point and the focus will be on recovery rather than rescue.  

Baltimore Harbour will remain closed until further notice. 

Ruby Kennedy