The ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on Tuesday, causing it to collapse, was involved in an accident overseas several years ago.
The incident involving the ship occurred in the Belgian port of Antwerp in 2016, Reuters report Tuesday.
“Antwerp Port Authority announced that the container ship Dali crashed into a quay while attempting to leave a container terminal in the North Sea on July 11, 2016,” the paper said.
“Port authorities could not provide details about the cause of the accident, but said the ship remained at the pier for some time after the accident for repairs,” the Reuters article said.
What appears to be video footage of the incident show Sirens blare in the background and the sound of a ship colliding with a concrete wall:
The ship that caused the Baltimore Bridge collapse was also involved in other accidents. In 2016, it crashed into a container terminal dock at the Belgian port of Antwerp.
This accident is said to have been caused by a mistake by the captain and pilot. pic.twitter.com/KdXyBDEyQP
— I’m a meme, so I’m 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) March 26, 2024
A spokesperson for the Port of Antwerp said: “As a general rule, such incidents are investigated and ships are only allowed to leave the port if experts consider it safe.”
When a ship crashed into the Baltimore Bridge early Tuesday morning, it collapsed, sending cars and people into the Patapsco River below, Breitbart News reported.
video clip show The moment the ship collided with part of the bridge:
Breitbart News’ Oliver J.J. Lane said there were “significant issues” on board minutes before the crash. The ship’s power appears to have been cut off before the incident.
“The BBC points out that an ‘unclassified memo’ from the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) says it confirmed the ship had ‘lost propulsion’ before hitting the bridge. “There are,” Lane continued.
Clearly, therefore, the ship is, in maritime parlance, “out of command,” or “at the mercy of the winds and sea,” which in this case means inertia. What we don’t know is whether this “lost propulsion” condition means the engine has stopped working, or whether the coupling that receives energy from the engine to the propeller has been damaged. That’s it. In each case, the ship malfunctioned at a critical moment and in a critical location and collided with enormous force.
A bridge engineer who spoke to Breitbart News today said the bridge suffered “catastrophic failure” after the collision, but this wasn’t exactly the bridge’s fault. The amount of energy contained in a moving container ship weighing more than 110,000 tons fully loaded is enormous, and strengthening large bridges against that kind of impact is essentially beyond the capabilities of materials science. .
Rescue efforts are currently underway to rescue several people who fell into the water after the ship collided with the bridge. Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said two people were rescued.
Meanwhile, Maryland’s governor said there was enough time between the Dali’s distress call and the crash to prevent vehicles from entering the bridge and save many lives.
WATCH: Search continues for survivors after collapse of bridge hit by cargo ship
Bill Ferguson, Storyful
