Ship that destroyed Baltimore bridge has troubled history

March 27, 2024 - The ship that struck and destroyed a Baltimore bridge on Tuesday morning has a chequered history, including at least one earlier collision and propulsion worries.

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It’s still not clear what caused the Dali to smash into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, but video footage showed nearly all of its lights going off shortly before impact. The incident is proving disruptive for shipping at one of the busiest ports on the U.S. East Coast and also for road transport, as it severed a key link on the major highway encircling Baltimore.

The Dali hit a stone wall berth at the Port of Antwerp in 2016 during unmooring manoeuvres, according to VesselFinder. The vessel, which was built in 2015, suffered damage to its stern and transom but remained afloat. The ship was then repaired.

More recently, mechanical questions have been raised. Last June, a routine safety inspection at San Antonio, Chile, found issues related to some of the gauges and thermometers linked to the Dali’s propulsion and auxiliary machinery, according to Tokyo MoU, an organisation that promotes safe shipping. The issues weren’t grounds to detain the ship, flying under the Singapore flag, and it was unclear exactly what they were.

A standard ship examination by the US Coast Guard later last year found no deficiencies, the Equasis marine database showed, according to Bloomberg.