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A new report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) offers the first, detailed, minute-by-minute account of the hours leading up the Dali container ship crashing into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge.
The report released on May 14 describes how the ship experienced two electrical blackouts 10 hours before it left the Port of Baltimore. The vessel was eventually able to get its power back online and leave the port, before it experienced another blackout just over a half mile before it reached the Key Bridge, stopping its propeller and preventing the rudder from moving. The crew was able to briefly restore power before it went out again less than a quarter mile from the bridge.
Although crews were eventually able to restore power to the vessel a second time, they were unable to get propulsion systems back online before the ship crashed into the bridge. Six maintenance workers who were still on the bridge at the time of incident were killed, while one crew member on the Dali sustained minor injuries.
Since the incident, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been working to clear the wreckage and reopen traffic to the Port Baltimore. On May 13, crews carried out controlled explosions on the bridge to separate its remains from the Dali. A day later, the U.S. Coast Guard announced that it had opened a limited-access 45-foot-deep channel for commercial traffic. The permanent 50-foot-channel is expected to reopen by the end of May.
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