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Dali ship managers break silence on Francis Scott Key bridge collapse after it ‘lost power for 60 secs’ before collision
This wasn't the first time the ship had a collision
MANAGERS of the container ship that lost power before crumbling a major Maryland bridge have broken their silence on the tragedy.
A frantic search is underway for six people after the Singapore-flagged ship Dali destroyed a stretch of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, flinging cars and a building crew in the icy waters.
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Jaw-dropping footage captured the 1.6-mile-long bridge that hangs over Baltimore's Patapsco River collapsing at about 1:30 am Tuesday.
Cars driving across the bridge were seen falling into the waters leaving crews to fight inky black waters and high winds while searching for survivors.
Timeline of the bridge collapse...
- At about 1:30 am, the Singapore-flagged Dali shipping vessel rammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge
- Surveillance footage captured the vessel losing power about 60 seconds before the crash
- The ship crew issued a mayday saying they had lost power
- The Dali, chartered by Danish shipping company Maersk, was less than 30 minutes into a 27-day journey
- Early Tuesday morning, Governor Wes Moore of Maryland declared a state of emergency
- An eight-person building crew working with Baltimore-based company Brawner Builders Inc. to repair manholes went missing after the crash
- Two of the construction workers have been found
- One of them was hospitalized and is in critical condition and the other was uninjured
- The remaining six people are still missing and crews are searching for them
- The ship's entire crew was accounted for
An eight-person building crew working with Baltimore-based company Brawner Builders Inc. to repair manholes went missing after the crash.
Two of the construction workers have been found, with one being hospitalized in critical condition as the other was uninjured.
Rescue crews are still looking for the remaining six people.
A Level 1 mass casualty event has been declared, according to Baltimore fire chief James Wallace.
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All of the ship's crew members are safe and accounted for.
Managers of the Dali revealed that they are still working to determine what happened in the moments leading to the crash, but Baltimore officials said it's believed to have been an accident.
"Whilst the exact cause of the incident is yet to be determined, the 'Dali' has now mobilized its Qualified Individual Incident response service," the company revealed in a statement, per Agence France-Presse.
Before the crash, Dali captains sent out an alert that they had lost control and there would be a crash, according to an unclassified Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency report seen by ABC News.
Shock vid show Baltmore's Dali cargo ship ‘lose POWER’ and ‘gush smoke’ before crash collapses Francis Scott Key Bridge
Marine tracking data and surveillance footage showed the ship lost its power for about 60 seconds before the crash.
The mayday prompted officials to stop traffic on both ends of the bridge, saving the lives of travelers.
"These people are heroes," said Governor Moore at a press conference.
The Dali, which is chartered by the Danish shipping company Maersk, was less than 30 minutes into a planned 27-day journey to Colombo, Sri Lanka, when tragedy struck, according to ship tracking website VesselFinder.
The nearly 1,000-foot-long ship left the Baltimore port with two pilots and 22 crew members.
There are no signs the crash was caused by terrorism, according to police.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse
The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, collapsed after a cargo ship bound for Asia smashed into one of its support pillars. Here is what we know so far:
- Search and rescue operations launched
- Six people are missing after falling into the water
- One rushed to the hospital in serious condition
- Sonar technology found cars in the water
- Baltimore mayor compares the scene to an action movie
- Cops do not suspect any terror links
- Cargo ship appears to have suffered power outages before the collision
- White House on hand to offer federal assistance
HAUNTING HISTORY
In 2016, the Dali collided with a berth, which is where large idle ships are stored, at the Port of Antwerp in Belgium, VesselFinder reported at the time.
That crash was due to a mistake by the Master and pilot on board and caused extensive damage to the ship and the port.
However, no one was injured by the collision.
Horrified Maryland locals have begun to express their heartbreak at the tragedy.
Heaven Nito, a Baltimore resident who works as a motor vehicle operator at the Walter Reed Naval Base in nearby Bethesda, said she was planning to take the bridge for her commute.
She normally enjoys the scenery of the drive, but said in an exclusive conversation with The U.S. Sun that she made the last-minute decision to take a different route.
"I felt a profound sense of divine protection," Nito said after hearing about the tragedy.
A lifelong resident, the local said her "heart sank" for the potential casualties.
On social media, Nito thanked her friends for checking up on her and said she believed God was with her Tuesday morning.
"Today marks a somber occasion for Baltimore as we mourn the loss of a cherished piece of our city's history," she said.
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Construction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge started in 1972, and the bridge was opened in 1977.
The bridge was named after the poet who penned the American national anthem The Star-Spangled Banner in 1814.
Key wrote the verse after witnessing the Battle of Baltimore where the British Navy bombed a rebel fort in the Patapsco River.
The structure spanned from the Patapsco River to Baltimore's Inner Harbor out to the Chesapeake Bay.
Governor Moore said reconstruction on the bridge will be a long-term build and declined to comment on when port operations will resume.
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Moore said the bridge was fully up to code.