Posted on 11/19/2025 7:11:53 AM PST by Red Badger
The cargo ship that rammed into Baltimore's Key Bridge in March 2024, shortly after experiencing two blackouts, initially lost power due to an improperly installed wire, the National Transportation Safety Board revealed on Tuesday.
The NTSB further found safety issues related to the Dali's machinery and electrical systems that prevented the ship from fully recovering following the initial blackout, the agency said.
The Dali, a Singaporean vessel, struck one of the piers on the Key Bridge early on the morning of March 26, 2024, causing the bridge to collapse and killing six construction workers who were filling potholes on the span.
"This tragedy should have never occurred," National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said during a hearing on Tuesday on the findings of the agency's 20-month investigation into the crash. "Lives should have never been lost, as with all accidents that we investigate, this was preventable."
According to the NTSB, on the day of the crash, a wire that had loosened over time due to an unstable connection ultimately disconnected from its breaker, resulting in a loss of propulsion and steering. A label identifying what the wire powered prevented it from being fully inserted into the breaker, the agency found.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Read the article. It was a cascading failure. I’ve seen it multiple times.
“One bad wire caused the entire ship to lose power? That boggles the mind.”
Why? One bad wire in a city or a brown out and the parts of the whole city goes down. Ship X 10 = all kinds of problems. Happens on the west coast daily.
wy69
I was expecting them to announce the cause was the Master’s License being issued by California.
I think the explanation is BS. OR, it is typical urinalist simplification.
Not that I don’t trust the government.... but I don’t.
Loose connection faults. Breaker upstream does its job and clears the fault. Takes a bunch of systems down with it
Cost driven industrial systems. Right now we are facing trans oceanic freighter ships being built to be unmanned sea going super-freighters. All run by GPS and autopilot systems. Yes, sail wireless. By the way, the industrial controls produced today are all IP Address controlled. Each axis of movement and speed is controlled by what is a network connection, and is purposely designed to be internet accessible. Just hop in with Studio 5000-RS Logix or similar OEM Platforms like ABB or Siemens.
the wire in question connected the 6600 volt board to the 440 volt board step down transformer. transformer breaker tripped on loss of 6600 volt input. The 440 board provides power to the main engine fuel, oil, & cooling pumps. It also powers the steering motors.
Wow, not a small wire. I bet the required torque on that connection needs more than a cute little screwdriver.
If I was going to guess, I would say the cable was at about 2 inches in diameter
“Cargo ship initially lost power due to loose wire”. Maybe the boat just a loose screw.
Loose nut behind the wheel................
for a good recap of the NTSB report on Dali see You tube “Whats happening in Shipping, Dali. Sal Mercogliano gives a great narration of the systems failure aboard Dali.
It took 20 months to figure this out?
NTSB is always slow and methodical.....................
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Not really something for a casual loose fitting.
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