Investigators will probe if dirty fuel caused the Dali container ship to lose power moments before it crashed into the Baltimore Key Bridge bringing it down ‘like a house of cards’

Investigators looking for answers in the devastating destruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after it was rammed by a shipping container in the early hours of Tuesday are looking into the notion that dirty fuel could have been responsible. 

A shocking new report from The Wall Street Journal quotes naval architect Fotis Pagoulatos as saying that black outs, such as the one suffered by the Dali in the lead-up the collision, are rare on ships, they are extremely hazardous. 

It has been widely reported that the Dali suffered a loss in propulsion which caused steering issues in the lead-up to the crash that caused the iconic bridge to collapse like a ‘house of cards.’ 

What caused those issues is likely to be the source of a lengthy investigation. 

One officer on the Dali said that before the crash, the engines ‘coughed and then stopped.’ There was not enough time before the ship hit the bridge to drop anchors prompting the vessel to drift. 

‘The vessel went dead, no steering power and no electronics… The smell of burned fuel was everywhere in the engine room and it was pitch black,’ the officer said. 

Six workers who were on the bridge, pouring concrete to fix potholes as part of a graveyard shift remain missing and are presumed dead. 

When a ship such as the Dali loses power, backup generators kick in but they do not fulfill all of the same functions as the main power, Pagoulatos said. 

In 2016, the Dali was involved in an accident in the port of Antwerp.

The Antwerp port authorities said the container ship Dali hit a quay on July 11, 2016, as it tried to exit the North Sea container terminal.

A 2016 inspection of the vessel conducted in Antwerp found it had a structural issue, which was stated as ‘hull damage impairing its seaworthiness,’ according to data published on Equasis, a public database for the shipping industry.

Inspectors found a problem with the Dali’s machinery in June, but a more recent examination did not identify any deficiencies, according to the shipping information system Equasis.  

The port authorities said the ship had remained at the dock for repairs for some time after the incident.

‘As a general rule, these accidents are investigated and ships are only allowed to leave after experts have determined it is safe for them to do so,’ a spokesperson for Antwerp port told Reuters.

The Belgian nautical committee, which investigates such incidents, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson representing the ship’s owner could not immediately be reached.

 The MS Dali, owned by Grace Ocean Pte Ltd and managed by Synergy Marine Corp, on Tuesday collided with one of the pillars of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, collapsing a large segment of its 1.6-mile span. 

National Transportation Safety Board chief Jennifer Homendy told the media on Tuesday that her team will investigate every aspect of the Dali and its record.

There was no evidence of foul play, officials said. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott described a scene of twisted metal shooting into the sky.

‘It was something out of an action movie. It was something you never thought you’d see,’ he said.

Video footage on social media showed the vessel slamming into the bridge in darkness, the headlights of vehicles visible on the span as it crashed into the water and the ship caught fire.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said closure of one of the country’s busiest shipping lanes until further notice would have a ‘major and protracted impact to supply chains.’ 

The Port of Baltimore handles more automobile cargo than any other U.S. port – more than 750,000 vehicles in 2022, according to port data.