The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Office of Marine Safety released a report on the Dali bridge ‘allision’ (not a collision) that destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore MD USA.
We all read with amazement at the destruction of this major bridge, which carries much East Coast auto and truck traffic between New York-Philadelphia and Washington DC. The cost to repair it is estimated at well over a billion dollars.
What caused the accident? The ship owner, ship operator, captain, and many insurance providers will be anxious to find out who can be held financially responsible— who is to blame.
The report indicates there was prior knowledge before the voyage of a loose cable connection which could have been responsible for the ship’s major 440V power system blacking out. That could be a cause of the accident since it would include the steering system and engines.
The team performing the investigation had a wide variety of members including the shipbuilder, classification society, flag-state port authorities, shipowner, and ship managers.
It may take a year to get the final report out. So no decisions are possible for quite a while.
It seems like a potential for a loose cable is something that should have been taken care of immediately if discovered. The accident occurred on 26 March. Why was it not discovered and fixed in prior inspections? I believe fixing it would have been time-consuming, causing quite a bit of lost steaming time. Were prior inspections not rigorous enough to disclose such problems? Or were the possibilities simply ignored? Maybe the lawyers will find out! See the second article below. And the US government is getting into the act (third article).
With the bridge repair costs so high, the stakes are large.
Barry Parker, New York Freelance Correspondent
September 14, 2024
https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/accidents/did-a-loose-cable-connection-cause-dali-blackouts-
Sam Chambers September 18, 2024
https://splash247.com/dali-lawsuits-pile-up-in-the-us/
Barry Parker, New York Freelance Correspondent
September 18, 2024
Supply Chain and Logistics 