Experts Warned Of Ship Strikes Long Before Key Bridge Collapse: Report

BALTIMORE, MD — A maritime safety committee repeatedly warned officials that an out-of-control vessel could strike the Francis Scott Key Bridge and cause it to collapse, according to records obtained by The Washington Post.

The warnings came years before the massive container ship Dali crashed into one of the bridge’s supporting columns, killing six road construction workers, blocking access to the harbor and halting most maritime traffic through the busy Port of Baltimore.

Over the past two decades, the committee — known as the Baltimore Harbor Safety and Coordination Committee and comprised of experts from key government agencies — raised the possibility of such a disaster, writing that the Key Bridge was "not designed to withstand collisions from large vessels" should a ship lose power or control near the bridge, the Post reported.

The records also indicated that the committee included “Recommendations for bridge protection from ship strikes” on a list of its action items, but it stopped appearing in meeting minutes in 2016, according to the Post.

The Post's report came just days after tugboats escorted the Dali back to port, its damaged bow still covered with smashed shipping containers, fallen steel trusses and mangled concrete from the March 26 collision.

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• Key Bridge Detonation: See Photos, Video As Explosives Free Dali Ship
• Last Key Bridge Victim's Body Found In Baltimore Wreckage: Officials
• Dali 'Unseaworthy' Baltimore Says Of Ship Owner In Key Bridge Crash
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To refloat the Dali, crews released anchors and pumped out more than 1 million gallons of water that had kept the ship grounded and stable. Crews conducted a controlled demolition on May 13 to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed bridge, which was draped across the Dali’s bow. Dive teams then confirmed the path was clear.

The Dali will spend several weeks getting temporary repairs at the same marine terminal it occupied before beginning its disastrous voyage, then move to a shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia for extensive repairs.

Removing the Dali effectively reopened the channel to maritime traffic; however, the channel still isn't as wide as it was before the collapse. Officials expect to restore the channel to its pre-collapse width by the end of May.

The Dali suffered two electrical blackouts that led to major equipment failure hours before it struck the Key Bridge, according to a preliminary report released last week by the National Transportation Safety Board.

In the report, officials wrote that the Dali had experienced electrical problems the day before the March 26 collision. In the hours before the ship left the Port of Baltimore on a voyage to Sri Lanka, the ship lost power twice.

According to officials, a mistake by a crew member working on a diesel engine part caused the first "in-port blackout." A second blackout in port was attributed to "insufficient fuel pressure," the report said.

The FBI has launched a criminal investigation into the circumstances leading up to the crash.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Read all of Patch's Key Bridge collapse coverage here.