Single defective wire led cargo ship to crash into Baltimore bridge: Report | Infrastructure News | USAEMALL.com

Investigators say faulty wiring and two blackouts led the ship’s pilots to lose control of propulsion and steering.

A single loose wire on the Dali, a 300-metre (984ft) container ship, was responsible for the deadly collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore last year, according to a months-long investigation by the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Due to problems with the wiring, the Dali experienced two blackouts on March 26, 2024, before losing control of propulsion and steering, leading the container ship to crash into the bridge and kill six highway workers, the NTSB said in a statement on Tuesday.

The bridge collapse created a global media sensation last year when a livestream video of the accident went viral. It was captured by a camera set up to monitor traffic through the Port of Baltimore but instead filmed the swift collapse of a major section of the bridge.

NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said finding the culprit behind the accident took months of diligent work from the agency’s investigators.

“Our investigators routinely accomplish the impossible, and this investigation is no different,” she said. “The Dali at almost 1,000ft is as long as the Eiffel Tower is high with miles of wiring and thousands of electrical connections. Finding this single wire was like hunting for a loose rivet on the Eiffel Tower.”

The investigation also found that the crew of the Dali tried and failed to steer the ship away from the bridge but was unable to do so due to electrical problems, the NTSB said.

The agency praised the ship’s pilots for swiftly notifying local authorities of the problems, which led the Maryland Transportation Authority to stop traffic from crossing the nearly 4km-long (2.5-mile-long) bridge.

Seven workers were already on the bridge at the time, the NTSB said, and six were killed in the accident.

The shipping channel fully reopened in June, but the Maryland Transportation Board said this week that the bridge will not reopen until 2030 and will cost $4.3bn to $5.2bn to repair, according to CBS News.