Dali ship operator charged over deadly Baltimore bridge collapse

In the early hours of 26 March, the M/V Dali container ship crashed into the landmark Francis Scott Key Bridge, sending several vehicles on the bridge plunging into the river and killing six construction workers. The bridge collapse also caused significant economic disruption as shipping was brought to a standstill. The city is still working to reconstruct the bridge, which is expected to take years and cost billions of dollars. The National Transportation Safety Board has identified multiple factors, including the loss of electrical power from a faulty cable, problems with a fuel pump on the ship and a lack of counter measures to reduce the bridge's vulnerability.In the court filing, prosecutors say the Dali struck the bridge because the vessel lost power two times in a four-minute span. The first power outage, prosecutors say, was caused by a loose wire in a switchboard. They allege the second black out occurred because the crew was relying on a flushing pump to supply fuel to two of the ship's generators. Prosecutors said the vessel had not been approved to use a flushing pump for its generators, as the pump was not designed to automatically restart after a blackout. If the crew had used "proper" fuel supply, the vessel would have regained power before hitting the bridge, they added.