The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday revealed that an improperly placed wire label caused a power outage on a cargo ship before it crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge last March.
At a public meeting on Tuesday, NTSB officials said the small label on the container ship’s wiring was placed when it was built roughly 10 years ago. The label was incorrectly placed on the wire’s metal ring cap — its ferrule — possibly preventing a good connection and causing it to lose power, officials said.
The March 2024 crash prompted the bridge, considered the crown jewel of Baltimore, to collapse, killing six construction workers.
“The fact is, none of us should be here today,” said Jennifer Homendy, chairwoman of the NTSB, in her opening remarks. “This tragedy should have never occurred. Lives should have never been lost, as with all accidents that we investigate, this was preventable.”
NTSB officials did not specify that the power outage caused the crash. The NTSB will hold a vote at the end of the meeting to determine a probable cause for the crash, which has yet to be finalized.
Marcel Muise, an NTSB investigator, said the faulty placement of the label might have caused the vessel to lose its steering ability and to stop operating its bow thruster, water pumps, and lighting.
The 947-foot Singapore-flagged Dali container ship, chartered by the Danish shipping giant Maersk, was bound for Sri Lanka when it struck the bridge in the early hours of March 26, 2024. It was in operation for roughly ten years before the crash.
Officials on Tuesday did not detail why the improperly placed wire label would cause a poor connection last year and not prior.
Minutes before the crash, the ship’s lights flickered on and off, and black smoke billowed from the stack. Both are signs of power losses, according to officials. The NTSB concluded in a preliminary report last year that the ship lost power twice shortly before the crash.
The bridge then collapsed into the depths of the Patapsco River seconds later. The collapse killed six roadwork crew members who were on the bridge when the crash occurred. None of the ship’s more than 20 crew members died in the accident.
The bodies of the six construction workers were recovered over several days after the collapse of the bridge. Muise said on Tuesday that all of the construction workers were found dead in their vehicles.
On Monday, Maryland officials more than doubled the estimated cost to replace the bridge and said it will take two years longer to complete than initially predicted. The Maryland Transportation Authority said it expects the bridge rebuild to cost $4.3 billion to $5.2 billion, with a reopening date around late 2030.
Synergy, the company that operated the Dali, did not immediately return a request for comment.
Isabelle Schmeler contributed.