Loose wire on ship may have led to Baltimore bridge collapse, report says

A loose wire on a cargo ship caused a power outage that may have led to the 2024 deadly collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, US investigators have said.

The Dali container ship, which crashed into the bridge and left six workers dead, was "preventable", National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators said during a hearing on Tuesday.

Police stationed at the bridge's ends were notified that the ship had veered off course but did not call the construction team's inspector to warn them.

Had the six workers been notified when police were, the NTSB said, they may have had time to evacuate.

"There would have been about one minute and 29 seconds to evacuate" before the collision, said NTSB engineer Scott Parent, according to the Washington Post.

That could have been "sufficient time to drive to a portion of the bridge that did not collapse", he said.

Several vehicles on the bridge in the black of night on 26 March 2024 plunged into the icy waters of the River Patapsco in Baltimore, Maryland, after the Dali container ship crashed into one of its pillars. Six workers fell to their deaths.

The hearing on Tuesday was expected to determine the possible causes of the deadly tragedy after a year-long investigation. The NTSB will also vote on safety recommendations and any changes to earlier findings.

According to documents released by the NTSB in 2024, problematic cables led to an electrical blackout on the Dali in the final moments before collision.

The deadly incident was massively disruptive to the major US shipping Port of Baltimore while it was closed, and severed part of a major interstate roadway.

Officials preliminarily estimated the repairs would be completed by 2028 and cost roughly $1.9bn (£1.4bn), However, an update on Monday estimated the total cost of repairs to be closer to $5bn and moved the timeline for completion to 2030.

"Just as families across the country are dealing with the reality of increased costs, so is Maryland," the state's Democratic Governor Wes Moore said in a statement on Monday.

"Trade policies out of Washington, D.C. have raised prices on everything - including essential materials we need in order to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

"Still, despite this new economic reality, our resolve is unwavering," he said.