Ship in Baltimore’s Key Bridge collapse passed inspections: port authority

The cargo ship involved in the collapse of the bridge in the United States city of Baltimore passed overseas inspections and had valid certificates covering its structural integrity and equipment functionality, Singapore’s port authority has said.

The Dali container ship underwent two separate foreign port state inspections in June and September 2023, with the earlier examination resulting in the fixing of a “faulty monitor gauge for fuel pressure”, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Dali’s next classification and statutory surveys are due in June 2024,” the port authority said.

Singapore’s port authority announced late on Tuesday that its investigators and those from the Transport Safety Investigation Bureau were en route to Baltimore to assist US authorities.

The authority also said that the Dali’s management company, Synergy Marine Pte Ltd, had informed it that the vessel had “experienced momentary loss of propulsion” and was “unable to maintain the desired heading and collided with the Francis Scott Key bridge”.

The Singapore-flagged ship was “reported to have dropped its anchors as part of the vessel’s emergency procedures prior to its impact with the bridge,” the port authority said.

“The vessel was under pilotage at the time of the incident.”

Six workers are missing and presumed dead following Tuesday’s disaster at the mouth of the Port of Baltimore, the ninth-busiest major port in the US in terms of foreign cargo volume and value.

US Coastguard and Maryland State Police officials announced late on Tuesday that they had switched to a search-and-recovery operation as they did not expect to find any of the missing workers alive.