Questions about the incredible accident involving a boat and a bridge in Baltimore (United States) at the end of March will perhaps dissipate. In a preliminary report published Tuesday, May 14, the American Transportation Safety Agency (NTSB) states that the container ship responsible for the collapse of the structure suffered two electrical failures just before the impact.
The Singapore-flagged Dali also experienced two electrical failures the day before during maintenance operations carried out in the port of Baltimore, “The NTSB is still investigating the electrical configuration after the first damage in the port and its possible consequences on the events occurred at the time of the accident,” the report said.
On March 26, the Francis-Scott-Key Bridge collapsed in a few seconds like a house of cards after being hit by the Dali. The crew of the container ship, which was leaving the port of Baltimore, on the east coast of the United States, bound for Sri Lanka, had managed to appeal for help to the authorities just before the tragedy, which made it possible to cut off part of the road traffic on the structure. Six workers carrying out repair work on the bridge, all Latin American immigrants, died. The last body was only found last week.
The dismounted container ship
According to the report, the crew had been subjected to multiple drug and alcohol tests before and after the disaster, and all came back negative. The authorities destroyed a piece of the structure with explosives on Monday in order to free the embedded container ship.
The bridge was an important highway axis for the northeastern United States, connecting the capital Washington and New York. Maritime transport in one of the country’s busiest ports had been blocked.
“We are going to move heaven and earth to rebuild this bridge as quickly as possible,” declared Joe Biden during a visit to the site in early April. In the meantime, a temporary navigation corridor has been opened, in particular to allow the passage of vessels carrying out clearing operations.