The Dali impact

At the time of the DALI’s collision with the Baltimore’s Francis Scott Bridge the vessel was carrying 4699TEU from East Asia to the US East Coast via the Panama Canal. The ship arrived at Baltimore’s Seagirt Marine Terminal on Tuesday, March 24th, following a delivery to the Port of New York/New Jersey. A small portion of containers was offloaded. Then the DALI departed Seagirt Marine Terminal at around 00:24 local time on Tuesday, bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka.

What follows is a timeline of events:

• At 01:24, as the ship approached the bridge, the vessel experienced a loss of power, causing the lights to go out onboard.
• At 01:25, the lights came back on as smoke emanated from the ship’s funnel.
• At 01:26, the DALI changed course but appeared to lose power again.
• The critical moment occurred at 01:28 when the ship collided with a pillar of Baltimore’s bridge, causing the central and southern spans to collapse upon impact.
• Shortly after, at 01:28, the northern span of the bridge also collapsed, causing complete destruction.

It has been reported that the vessel suffered catastrophic electrical failures minutes before the crash, and experienced two blackouts a day earlier, according to a preliminary report released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Reviewing DALI’s history, this isn’t the first time it has experienced an accident. In 2016, while departing from the Belgian port of Antwerp, the ship grazed its stern against the quay, causing significant damage to the hull. Fortunately, there were no injuries or spills reported.

Yet, these past issues cannot be used to assign blame today. Instead, they should be put into perspective against the wider picture. When considering DALI’s overall track record using marine intelligence technology from Pole Star Global, only two recorded deficiencies have been reported in approximately eight years, alongside 27 Port State Control (PSC) inspections. This performance is generally commendable and worth noting.

MARITIME TRADE IMPACT
Baltimore’s Francis Scott Bridge links Hawkins Point – a neighbourhood in Baltimore – to Dundalk – in Maryland – while allowing commercial vessels to traverse the Patapsco River, which links the Port of Baltimore with Chesapeake Bay – the largest estuary in the United States. Therefore, the port of Baltimore stands out as one of the busiest in the United States, by cargo volume and value. According to the IMF’s Port Watch, “Baltimore handles nearly 3% of US maritime trade, serving as a major port for the import and export of motorised vehicles.” With that in mind, this crisis has significant implications for wider global supply chains.

Pole Star Global data reveals that from January 2023 – March 2024 there was an array of commercial vessels calling at Baltimore. This includes: dry bulk; chemical container, general cargo, oil, other dry cargo, passenger, and self-discharging bulk dry vessels – with car carrier, container and dry bulk vessels accounting for the greater number of calls. This data excludes tugboats, non-merchant vessels, and other non-commercial vessel types.

This aligns with Bureau of Transportation Statistics data about the port’s commodity exports and imports. It reveals the top five commodities exported via Baltimore in 2022 by value were: motorised vehicles (37.1%), coal (16.6%), machinery (11%), natural gas and other fossil products (10.3%), and transport equipment (5.3%). The top five commodities imported in 2022 by value consisted of: motorised vehicles (45.9%), machinery (14.1%), base metals (9.8%), other foodstuffs (2.8%), and basic chemicals (2.8%). These industries bore the brunt of the incident – with automotive, oil and gas, and heavy industries most affected. Further, Baltimore’s export and import value is the largest to and from Europe – and it is expected that this incident will mostly affect container, coal, and bulk dry shipping.

Overall, the DALI’s collision with Baltimore’s bridge underscores the vulnerabilities in maritime infrastructure, impacting crucial trade routes and global supply chains. This vulnerability has recently gained prominence through other high profile incidents such as the blockage of the Suez Canal by the Ever Given and the current hostile situation in the Red Sea which has seen a large number of vessel operators elect to use the Cape of Good Hope route instead.