A plastic label on a single loose wire that blocked the wire from being fully connected caused an electrical blacko
ut that led to the fatal collision of the 984-foot-long containership Dali into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in 2024.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) y
esterday reported that the loose wire in the ship’s electrical system caused a breaker to unexpectedly open. That in
turn triggered a sequence of events that led to two vessel blackouts and a loss of both propulsion and steering near the 2.37-mile-long Key Bridge on March 26, 2024.
The investigators found that wire-label banding prevented the wire from being fully inserted into a terminal block spring-clamp gate, causing an inadequate connection.
The collision killed six workers and disrupted one of the nation’s busiest ports.
NTSB Illustration of Wire Label on Dali.
In announcing the findings, NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy remarked on the likelihood of finding the cause.
“Our investigators routinely accomplish the impossible, and this investigation is no different,” commented Homendy. “The Dali, at almost 1,000 feet, is as long as t
he Eiffel Tower is high, with miles of wiring and thousands of electrical connections. Finding this single wire was like hunting for a loose rivet on the Eiffel Tower.”
According to the final report’s summary, after the first blackout, the Dali’s began swinging to starboard toward Pier 17 of the Key Bridge. The pilots and the bridg
e team attempted to change the vessel’s trajectory, but their actions were ineffective due to the loss of propulsion so close to the bridge.
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A substantial portion of the bridge subsequently collapsed into the river, and portions of the pier, deck and truss sp
ans collapsed onto the vessel’s bow and most container bays. A seven-person road maintenan
ce crew and one inspector were on the bridge when the vessel struck. Six of the highway workers died.
Overall, the NTSB found that the quick actions of the Dali pilots, shoreside dispatchers and the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) police to stop bridge tra
ffic prevented greater loss of life. MDTA police officers, who were stationed on both ends of the bridge conducting tra
ffic control, immediately stopped all traffic from entering onto the bridge, and as a result, the bridge was cleared of traffic about 48 seconds before the vessel struck the bridge.
However, the report indicates that the six lives lost may have been saved if not for a communications lapse. The seven highway workers and inspec
tor on bridge at the time were not notified of the Dali’s emergency situation before the bridge collapsed. Had th
ey been called about the same time the MDTA police officers were told to block vehicular traffic, the highway workers m
ay have had sufficient time to drive to a portion of the bridge that did not collapse.
Homendy said that like other accidents NTSB investigates, this tragedy was preventable and that implementing NTSB recommendations resulting from the investigation will prevent similar tragedies in the future.