In the wee hours of 26 March 2024 a maritime disaster took place at the port of Baltimore, Maryland. At 0129 hrs local time, a large container ship m.v.Dali crashed into a support pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on the Patapsco River. If you’ve watched the video which went viral, you’ll notice how quickly the almost-50 year old bridge crumbled and collapsed into the water. The few vehicles and people—all construction workers—present on the bridge at that time didn’t stand a chance and fell into the icy river.
Aerial view of the Dali cargo vessel which crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., March 26, 2024. Maryland National Guard/Handout, Image Source: REUTERS, Hindustan Times
At the time of writing, the ship lies wedged into the debris of the broken bridge, with shipping containers, some of them containing hazmat, littered across the river. There is a sheen on the water in the area. The economy on the US east coast is definitely taking a hit. The Key Bridge, as it is called, played an important role in moving goods up and down the US east coast as part of the I-695 interstate highway. So has commuter travel been affected badly, since thousands of cars used the bridge daily.
6 people are presumed dead as of now. Search and rescue operations were called off by sunset that day itself, as it is believed not many would have survived the freezing river water. The casualties and losses would have been far greater had the ship not sent a timely ‘Mayday’ distress call, which was relayed to MDTA, the state authority operating the bridge. The bridge was immediately closed to traffic and was evacuated, leaving only the hapless construction workers who needed to complete some job, and their vehicles.
‘Beware the Ides of March’! Did you know that the month of March has seen major shipping disasters throughout history? (If you’ve read my book ‘Mayday!’ you will be familiar with a few.)
Torrey Canyon- March 1967, Amoco Cadiz-March 1978, Exxon Valdez-March 1989, Ever Given-March 2021, YM Witness-March 2024. And now Dali.
Why am I writing this? It’s because not only am I wondering what went wrong that night, but as an old sea dog, my heart goes out to the 22 Indian crew who are serving aboard that vessel. What must they be going through, as they await their future? While the official reports are awaited from various investigative agencies (which may take months), I’d like to share my thoughts on this incident with you.
What went wrong? Not much information is available currently. The VDR (Black Box) data shows that the ship suffered two consecutive power losses. In other words, there were two blackouts, one immediately after the other. If there is a blackout on board, then everything shuts down. No engine (it will trip), no generator, no steering. Just stifling blackness and panic. The first blackout must have put the ship off her course when she was already close to the bridge. The power came on momentarily but not long enough for course correction. Then the second blackout. The ship was travelling at around 8 knots (15 km/hr) at the time, which is a safe speed in that area if you have control; disastrous if you don’t!
What could they possibly have done to avert this collision? Could they have let gone anchor just to halt the momentum of the large ship? I don’t think so. At 0127 hrs, two minutes before the collision, the pilot in charge of the navigation did give the order to drop anchor. It was too late. It takes time to let go an anchor, even if an emergency anchor team was present at the site. Time that the crew did not have. In any case, at 8 knots the ship was going too fast for an anchoring operation. The anchor chain would have snapped in two with the strain in no time.
Could they have sailed from the berth with tugboats made fast at both ends to assist in such an emergency? No again. In that comparatively wide stretch of river, it is customary for ships to proceed at a decent speed without being restricted by tugs. Moreover, it is unlikely tugs would have been effective to stop a large ship or turn her away from danger when she was steaming at 8 knots. The pilot did ask Port Control for tug assistance at 0126 hrs. But again, it takes time to arrange for tugs. At least 30 minutes, I’d say.
There were two qualified local pilots on board, one of whom was in charge of the navigation. Despite their expertise on the river, how much time did they have to take preventive action? Did they panic, I wonder? They are human too, after all. Anyway, what could they have done in a blackout just a couple of minutes away from hitting the bridge?
So what happened, I think, is that the machinery failed at the worst possible time. That’s it. Pure bad luck. Well, s**t happens. Though two generators must have been running during the manoeuvring operation, it is possible that one failed due to, say, a choked oil filter or low lub oil pressure, causing all the electrical load to fall onto the other generator, which also tripped due to overload. Was the fuel contaminated causing the filters to choke? It’s possible that the Emergency Generator did not kick in automatically as it is supposed to in such an event. Conjecture, of course. Well, machinery is machinery. It failed at the wrong place, wrong time.
The investigation will reveal if the generators had been well maintained as per schedule, or if adequate spares for machinery had been provided to the ship by the management. Accusations, obfuscation and passing the buck will be par for the course during the investigations and trial.
No prizes for guessing who will have to take the responsibility for this tragic accident. The poor captain of the ship, of course. Marine law clearly states that the ship-owner, or his representative the Master of the vessel, is liable for any loss or damage caused by the vessel due to faulty navigation during pilotage, even if a pilot is in control of the navigation. Imagine the colossal amount of litigation that is going to take place over the next few months; after all, this is the US of A. Lives have been lost, a 3km long bridge has been destroyed, commerce has been decapitated, vehicles have sunk, commuters have been affected…..someone has to be held responsible. My heart goes out to the poor Master, the Chief Engineer and the crew, as they await the outcome. There is no news in the media of where they are right now.
The US east coast and the Gulf of Mexico are full of inland river ports. Baltimore, Philadelphia, Savannah, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Houston, Beaumont etc—there are dozens of such ports, big and small. As a sea captain, I have spent years sailing to and from these places. I must confess that my heart was always in my mouth during such river transits. These rivers are really shallow, and narrow in most places. I could see the ship’s propeller churning up mud often. I could wave to people standing on the river bank as we passed, or to the crew on another ship coming from the opposite direction—we were often that close. The ship would seem to kiss the bank at certain bends and shudder in protest, very close to running aground. Every transit was an accident waiting to happen. What can a Master do when there’s a power failure under such circumstances?
Come to think of it, how lucky I’ve been to not suffer the fate of the crew on the Dali. Ever. Though I could have so many times.
Can an incident such as this happen again? You bet it can.
Beetashok Chatterjee is the author of ‘Mayday!’ an analysis of major maritime incidents in history, ‘Driftwood’, a collection of stories about Life at Sea and ‘The People Tree’, another collection of stories about ordinary people with extraordinary experiences. A retired merchant ship’s captain by profession, this old sea dog lives in New Delhi with his memories of living more than 40 years on the waves.
His books are available on Amazon. Click here.
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