The FBI has opened a criminal investigation on the container ship that took down Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge last month, looking to determine if the ship’s crew left the port knowing the vessel was troubled.
Officials are reviewing the events that led up to themassive, 980-foot-longDali container ship colliding with one of the key bridge’s support pillars, two US officials with knowledge of the matter told the Washington Post.
“The FBI is present aboard the cargo ship Dali conducting court authorized law enforcement activity,” the agency said in a statement Monday morning. Salvage crews continue to remove wreckage from the cargo ship Dali after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the Patapsco River on April 10, 2024 in Baltimore, Maryland. Getty Images
The FBI did not comment further on their investigation.
The early-morning collision collapsed the Key Bridge, a vital route of local traffic where eight people were working on repairing potholes overnight.
Six members of the construction crew fell into the water and died, while two survived, officials said.
The massive container ship, capable of carrying nearly 130,000 tons of cargo and supplies, took down the 47-year-old bridge just before 1:30 a.m. on March 26 after attempting to warn officials that it hadreportedly lost propulsionand was about to crash into the bridge.
Horrifying video ahead of the crash shows the ship’s power flickering on and off moments before the collision, which sent the bridge instantly crumbling into the water.
The ship also caught fire, sending thick, black smoke across the busy harbor.
Two“deficiencies” were flagged across 27 inspectionsof the ship since it was built in 2015, most recently in June 2023.
The container ship was last inspected on Sept. 9, 2023 by the US Coast Guard in New York. No deficiencies were reported at the time.
The FBI’s investigation is separate from the probe underway by the National Transportation Safety Board, which is looking to determine the cause of the crash and assess other safety-related measures.
President Biden and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore have both said they intend to hold any parties that are deemed liable accountable for the incident.
