The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has now opened a criminal investigation into the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland.
The agency will be reviewing the factors that led up to the collapse, inquiring into the legal compliance of all actors involved, according to an anonymous source who spoke to the Associated Press (AP).
On Monday, the FBI said it had personnel scouring the contents of the Dali cargo ship as authorized by a law court. The Washington Post was the first news group to be alerted of the story.
As Valuetainment previously reported, the Dali ship was en route to Sri Lanka after having departed from the port of Baltimore early in the morning of March 26th when it slammed into a support column of the bridge. Six crew members fell to their deaths, and many others experienced casualties.
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Only three of the bodies have been recovered from the Patapsco River wreckage by emergency divers.
Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, said last week that investigators are looking into the status of the electrical power system on board the Dali. The ship lost its electric power just before hitting the bridge, as seen in footage where its lights go on and off moments before. Homendy said the “information in the engine room will help us tremendously,” as it is basic and easy to understand.
On April 6th, another ship lost control of its propulsion last week while navigating near the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge near the coast of New York City. The “APL Qingdao,” a vessel weighing 89,000 tons and stretching 1,100 feet in length, was left anchored close to the bridge, nearly hitting the Verrazano. Authorities reassured the public that, despite the ship’s proximity to the bridge, its structure (reinforced with protective measures such as rock-islands around its pillars) would likely have prevented a catastrophe like the one in Baltimore.
Shane Devine is a writer covering politics and business for VT and a regular guest on The Unusual Suspects. Follow Shane’s work here.
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