The ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in March was experiencing electrical power issues prior to the incident, according to a National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report released Tuesday.

Ten hours before the collision, the Dali had experienced two blackouts while in port that prompted the crew to deploy a different configuration of circuit breakers from the ones the ship had been using.

What You Need To Know

  • The ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in March was experiencing electrical power isuses, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board

  • Ten hours before the Dali vessel crashed into the bridge, it had experienced two blackouts while in port

  • The ship was using a different configuration of circuit breakers from the ones it had been using when it departed and crashed into the bridge

  • The NTSB investigation found no issues with the quality of the ship's fuel and no evidence of drug use by the crew

The on-ship blackout after departure from the port of Baltimore occurred when the circuit breakers opened unexpectedly, the report said. The NTSB is still investigating the ship’s electrical configuration “and potential impacts on the events during the accident voyage.”

For its report, the NTSB has been analyzing the Dali’s voyage data recorder that included six hours of information from immediately before and after the accident. Following the crash, the agency said it downloaded and began reviewing 34 days of data from the ship.

The report found no issues with the quality of the fuel used by the vessel that crashed into the Frances Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore March 26, causing the bridge to collapse and killing six workers.

Fuel sample tests taken from the ship following the accident showed the fuel ”being burned at the time of the accident complied with international standards and regulations,” the report said. “Test results did not identify any concerns related to the quality of the fuel.”

Drug tests of the crew also came back negative.

The report found that 56 of the 4,680 containers on the ship contained hazardous materials. Those containers were located throughout the ship, 14 of which may have been damaged when the ship hit the bridge or during the bridge collapse onto a portion of the shop. No hazaradous material from the containers entered the water, according to the report.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after the Dali struck one of the piers holding the bridge, which was surrounded by a large, crushable concrete box and timber fender system. Two piers with fendering systems were damaged when the bridge collapsed.

Before its collapse, the Key Bridge was subject to regular inspections. Its last inspections were in May 2023 and March 2021, both of which revealed the conditions of the deck, superstructure and substructure were satisfactory, according to the report.

The NTSB investigation is ongoing. The agency said it is looking at all aspects of the accident to determine the probable cause. It said it will continue to evaluate the design and operation of the Dali’s power distribution system and will examine damage to the ship after it is cleared of debris and moved to shore.