FBI Opens Investigation Into Key Bridge Collapse

BALTIMORE, MD — Reports said FBI agents boarded the crippled cargo ship Dali early Monday, launching a criminal investigation into what caused the massive container ship to crash into and down Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge.

The Washington Post was the first to report the investigation.

The FBI acknowledged the Post's report that it will look into whether the crew left the port knowing the vessel had serious systems problems. Authorities are reviewing the events leading up to the moment when the Dali, a 985-foot Singapore-flagged ship, lost power while leaving the Port of Baltimore and slammed into one of the bridge’s support pillars, the Post reported.

The FBI confirmed in a statement that its agents were on the ship.

“The FBI is present aboard the cargo ship Dali conducting court authorized law enforcement activity,” the agency said in a statement Monday morning.

The City of Baltimore is also taking legal action. Mayor Brandon Scott on Monday announced that the city is partnering with two law firms to hold any wrongdoers accountable in the shipwreck. For its legal action, the city tapped national complex issues and trial firm DiCello Levitt and Philadelphia law firm Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky Trial Lawyers.

“This unthinkable tragedy has taken Marylanders from their loved ones, and risked the livelihoods of thousands of Baltimoreans who rely on the Port of Baltimore,” Scott said in a Monday press release. “We are continuing to do everything in our power to support everyone impacted here and will continue to recognize the human impact this event has had. Part of that work needs to be seeking recourse from those who may potentially be responsible, and with the ship’s owner filing a petition to limit its liability mere days after the incident, we need to act equally as quickly to protect the City’s interests.”

When the vessel lost power approaching the bridge on March 26, the ship pilot called mayday, giving the Maryland Transportation Authority Police about two minutes to halt bridge traffic. Despite emergency maneuvers, it was too late to stop the 112,000-metric-ton ship.

While reports said the FBI is looking into wrongdoing, the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash and developing future safety recommendations.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said her team is examining Dali's electrical system. Investigators are working with Hyundai, which built equipment in the ship's engine room. The NTSB also requested help examining the ship's circuit breakers.

"That is where our focus is right now in this investigation," Homendy said last Wednesday while testifying before a U.S. Senate committee. "Of course, that's preliminary. It could take different roads, different paths as we continue this investigation."

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

The bridge collapse killed three construction workers. Another three are presumed dead. The ship and bridge debris still block the Patapsco River, limiting traffic to the Port of Baltimore.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is cleaning up the wreckage with the help of the largest crane on the East Coast.

Crews have already reopened a temporary channel primarily for small vessels involved in the cleanup. They expect to open a larger channel for mid-size ships by the end of April.

Engineers hope to fully reopen the permanent channel by the end of May.

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• Jobs In Limbo, Supply Chain Resilient After Baltimore Bridge Collapse
• 'I Didn't Think It Was Real': Residents React To Key Bridge Collapse