Power Outage Blamed for Cargo Ship Collision with Maryland Bridge
A loose signal wire has been identified as the cause of a significant power outage that led to the cargo ship Dali crashing into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, according to a report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). They noted that the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) failed to properly assess the bridge’s vulnerability to such strikes.
This incident took place in the early hours of March 26, 2024, when the Dali lost power before colliding with a support pier, resulting in the bridge collapsing into the Patapsco River.
The NTSB’s final report pointed out that a single misplaced wire was responsible for the complete power loss, leaving the Dali without propulsion or steering. They stated that the incident might have been avoided if Maryland had adhered to safety recommendations issued years prior.
“The National Transportation Safety Board has determined that the probable cause of the collision between the container ship Dali and the Francis Scott Key Bridge was a power outage linked to a loose signal wire due to improper installation,” the board explained.
Although emergency crews reacted quickly to the power outage, they did not have enough time to restore power before the ship struck the bridge. The NTSB concluded that the collision was unavoidable due to both the ship’s proximity to the bridge and the delays in restoring electrical systems.
The report criticized the MDTA for neglecting to conduct vulnerability assessments as recommended by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials—assessments that could have identified protective measures for bridges against ship collisions.
The NTSB asserted that the lack of measures to safeguard the bridge against impacts from large vessels contributed to its collapse, which could have been mitigated through earlier assessments.
Engineers revealed that the crew of the Dali misused the flushing pump as a service pump, which was a significant limitation to their ability to restore power post-outage. Unfortunately, the ship’s operator, Synergy Marine Group, failed to notice or address this issue.
Moreover, the NTSB also criticized Synergy for operating crucial electrical systems in manual mode instead of automatic. This decision hampered efforts to regain power after the outage.
“We concluded that Synergy’s oversight was lacking because the crew did not stop using the flushing pump inappropriately,” mentioned NTSB engineer Bart Burnham in a statement.
Communication failures were another concern, as they delayed notifications to highway workers, preventing timely evacuation before the bridge’s collapse.
The NTSB report comes on the heels of announcements from Maryland officials stating that the reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge will take two additional years and cost over twice the original estimate. The current projected completion is now set for 2030, with costs ballooning to $5.2 billion, up from the initial estimate of $1.9 billion designed to secure federal funding.
Jim Harkness, MDTA’s chief engineer, attributed this cost increase to inflation and various market factors. “Estimating costs for projects of this scale is challenging,” he commented, adding that various market elements influence the final figures. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had predicted in August that the final costs would likely be “double” the initial estimates once federal funding was factored in.
The NTSB’s findings illustrate a series of failures—from a single faulty power line to years of safety oversights—that culminated in one of the most devastating infrastructure disasters in Maryland’s recent history. As the state embarks on the reconstruction of the bridge, the ongoing rise in costs and delays underscore the far-reaching impact of the collapse on Maryland’s economy and infrastructure.
