NTSB Attributes Baltimore Bridge Collapse to Loose Wire on Dali

The National Transportation Safety Board detailed on Tuesday how a loose electrical wire contributed to a power failure aboard the cargo ship Dali, leading to its collision with Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, 2024, and the subsequent collapse that killed six construction workers.

Investigators presented findings at a public hearing in Washington, attributing the ship's power outages to an improperly placed label on a wire in its electrical system. The 947-foot Singapore-flagged vessel, which had been in operation for about a decade and was chartered by the shipping company Maersk, was outbound from the Port of Baltimore bound for Sri Lanka when the incident occurred around 1:30 a.m. According to NTSB staff, the label, installed when the ship was built roughly 10 years earlier, covered the ferrule on the wire's metal ring cap, creating a poor connection. This fault triggered two blackouts shortly before the crash: one about four minutes prior, when electrical breakers tripped, cutting power to lighting and most equipment, and another that disabled the ship's steering, bow thruster, water pumps, and lights. Witnesses reported the ship's lights flickering and...