What to know about the cargo ship Dali, a medium-sized sea monster that sank a Baltimore bridge

Here’s what to know about the cargo ship Dali that crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse and leaving six bridge construction workers presumed dead.

If the cast stood upright, the cast would reach almost to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris or about two-thirds of the way up the Empire State Building in New York.

It can carry the equivalent of approximately 10,000 standard-sized metal shipping containers, and was carrying approximately 4,700 containers at the time of the accident. But while these figures are impressive, they pale in comparison to the world’s largest container ships, which can carry more than 24,000 containers. There are environmental and economic advantages to running giant container ships, but their sheer size and weight make them difficult to maneuver and stop – especially when something goes wrong.

Cast length: 984 feet (300 m). Weight: 95,000 tonnes when empty.

Capacity: 10,000 20-foot (6-meter) containers.

The ship shares its name with one of the most famous artists in history, Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalí.

Built by South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries, one of the world’s largest shipbuilders, Dali was launched in late 2014. It is owned by Grace Ocean Pte Ltd, flies the Singapore flag and is powered by a diesel engine.

Danish shipping giant Maersk had chartered Dali for a planned voyage from Baltimore to Sri Lanka, but the ship could not get very far, with the crew sending out a mayday call on Tuesday morning saying they had lost power and their steering system was failing. There is no control. A few minutes later, the ship collided with a pillar of the bridge, causing the entire structure to collapse within seconds.

The ship was moving at a speed of about 8 knots, or 9 mph (15 kph). May Day gave officials enough time to stop traffic on the bridge and possibly prevent more deaths, but not enough time to remove construction crews filling potholes on the bridge. Divers recovered the bodies of two workers on Wednesday.

All of Dali’s approximately two dozen crew members were injured after the accident, including one taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Dali passed inspection June 2023 in Chile. According to officials, a faulty pressure gauge for the fuel heater was identified but was repaired before the ship left port. The cast was then inspected by the US Coast Guard in New York in September and no problems were found. According to the Coast Guard, the ship underwent routine engine maintenance before departing from Baltimore.

Federal and state officials say the crash appears to be an accident.

The Coast Guard has downloaded the voyage data recorder and sent it to the National Transportation Safety Board, which is creating a timeline of the causes of the accident, and a preliminary report is expected in the coming weeks. Singapore also plans to conduct its own investigation, which it says will identify lessons for the future rather than determine liability.

In addition to trying to clear the channel floor of the bridge debris, officials will need to assess the damage done to the cast and ensure it did not leak fuel or sink. Investigators found damage to at least 13 containers on the ship.

The barge would then presumably be towed back to port and the cargo unloaded.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says it’s too early to say how long it will take to reopen the Port of Baltimore or replace the destroyed bridge. He said that it initially took five years to build the bridge.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – The Associated Press)