Last Updated on March 27, 2024
The crash of the Dali cargo ship in Baltimore was immediately preceded by a “total power failure” and came after the ship had experienced severe electrical issues for at least two days while it was docked in the Port of Baltimore awaiting its doomed departure.
Clay Diamond, the Executive Director and General Counsel of the American Pilots Association, a union representing maritime pilots and port workers, told CNN that “just minutes” before the Dali went barrelling into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, “there was a total blackout on the ship, meaning that the ship lost engine power and electrical power, it was a complete blackout.”
According to another CNN guest close to the shipping industry, the Dali had spent the 48 hours before the crash experiencing a “severe electrical problem” as it sat in the Port of Baltimore.
Julie Mitchell, co-administrator of cargo tracking company Container Royalty, told CNN that for “those two days, they were having serious power outages.”
“They had a severe electrical problem,” Mitchell said. “‘It was total power failure, loss of engine power, everything.”
Though the Dali’s crew is described as “all Indian” by its Singaporean owners, the ship was piloted through Baltimore’s port by a local worker, as required by law. When the ship lost power, recovered it, and then lost it again, the pilot called in a mayday to stop traffic on the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
Moments later, with the pilot and crew unable to control the ship, it collided with the bridge, sending it collapsing into the waters below.
Though all aboard the ship survived, six construction workers who were working on the Francis Scott Key Bridge are presumed dead, while two others were rescued.
The Dali’s crew, which was departing on a 27-day voyage when the crash occurred, is expected to remain on the ship for the clean-up effort, which could take nearly a month.
It’s unclear when investigators think they’ll identify the cause of the crash, but with repeat power outages in the equation, it’s been widely suggested that the ship could’ve been the victim of a cyber-attack or another form of sabotage.
In another unusual aspect of the story, within hours of the crash, Joe Biden announced that the American taxpayers will foot the entire bill.
As National File reported on the day of the Dali’s crash, video footage of the crash appeared to show the ship losing power in the moments before it collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
While the cause of the Dali striking the Francis Scott Key Bridge is still under investigation, and will likely be ironed out into an easy-to-digest story before being peddled to the public, serious concerns have been raised that the crash was a planned event.
Video footage of the crash went viral online immediately after it was released, and it’s been pointed out that the Dali appeared to lose power and rapidly turn toward a striking point on the bridge just before the collision.
Watch the Dali Appear to Lose Power in the (Accelerated) Video Below:
Closeup view of ship losing power twice before hitting the bridge.
Note that clip is sped up. pic.twitter.com/SWY2qjkl0A— Brick Suit (@Brick_Suit) March 26, 2024
