Multiple alarms sounded aboard the doomed Dali cargo ship in the minutes before it crashed into Baltimore’s Key Bridge, new black box audio data revealed.
The NTSB said it received six hours of audio data from the ship’s voyage from midnight to 6 a.m. The boat impacted moments before 1:30 a.m.
Marcel Muise, the lead investigator on the NTSB case, said Wednesday that alarms began going off on the ship at 1:24 a.m.
At 01:26, the ship’s pilot requested urgent help from nearby tugboats and at 01:27 he ordered to drop anchor.
The exact cause of the catastrophe that left at least six people dead is still under investigation, and there is speculation of some type of mechanical failure, as the images also showed the ship’s lights turning on and off several times in the moments before.
Multiple alarms sounded aboard the doomed Dali freighter in the minutes before it collided with Baltimore’s Key Bridge (pictured the morning after Tuesday’s impact).
NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy addresses a news conference Wednesday, joined by Chief Investigator Marcel Muise (left).
The new data was revealed at a news conference Wednesday, where NTSB Chief Jennifer Homendy confirmed that all 23 crew members, including two temporary pilots assigned to safely get the ship out of port, were safe. .
More than 4,600 units of cargo were on board the ship, 56 of which contained hazardous materials. Homendy said some of the dangerous cargo was breached, but did not indicate it posed a threat to public safety.
After Muise offered details of the alarms that sounded in the moments before impact, Honendy said the data fell short of what investigators would expect if they were investigating a similar catastrophe involving a plane.
He said the NTSB has long sought more detailed data from ships’ voyage data recorders and said they are instead equipped with devices that can only record basic data.
Although the Dali ship featured a newer model than others, the NTSB chairman said it is still “very basic” compared to what investigators would expect from an aircraft black box.
This means that while Dali data includes ship location and helm commands along with audio, it does not record important details such as power distribution data.
Homendy concluded that the freighter has been left in a state of “total devastation” and has “structural damage everywhere” as it remains anchored in place in the Patapsco River.
The ship, a 948-foot-long DALI operated by Singaporean company Synergy Group, collided with the 1.7-mile bridge shortly after departing the port of Baltimore on Monday.
Crews saved two men from the collapse, and six other construction crew workers are presumed dead or their remains have been found.
Rescue personnel gather Tuesday on the bank of the Patapsco River.
The ship has remained at the scene as diving teams continue to carry out search missions for victims, and six construction workers who were working on the bridge at the time of the collapse are now presumed dead.
Officials admitted their efforts have been focused on a body-search mission, and two of the six workers were found Thursday morning.
The two men, identified as 35-year-old Alejandro Hernandez Fuentez of Baltimore and 26-year-old Darlene Rania El Castillo Cabrera of Dundalk, were brought to shore Wednesday morning, police confirmed. The families of both men have been informed.
“Crews made a tragic discovery shortly before 10:00 ET with a red pickup truck near the bridge,” Ronald L. Butler of the Maryland State Police said at a briefing Wednesday night.
“Divers recovered two victims trapped inside the vehicle,” he told reporters.
“My heart, and the heart of the entire city of Baltimore, is with you and will be with you forever,” Mayor Brandon Scott said of the victims’ families.
Two other victims identified are Maynor Suazo, 37, a native of Honduras, and Miguel Luna, 49.
The first of the six victims identified was Miguel Luna, 49, and authorities say he and the other five missing people are presumed dead.
Maynor Suazo, 37, a native of Honduras, has been identified as another victim
The bridge spans 9,000 feet over the Patapsco River and is 180 feet above the water.
As investigations into the cause of the wreck continue, much of the attention has focused on possible mechanical failures within the ship.
Officials were quick to rule out the catastrophe as intentional or an act of terrorism, and an initial report from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) found that the container ship “lost propulsion” as it left port.
“The ship notified the MD Department of Transportation (MDOT) that they had lost control of the ship and that a tie-up with the bridge was possible,” the report says. “The ship collided with the bridge causing a total collapse.”
Observers were quick to notice that the ship’s exterior lights went out twice in the moments before impact, suggesting that the ship may have suffered some type of mechanical failure.
Homendy was questioned about this possibility Wednesday morning, and also dismissed reports that officials were investigating contaminated fuel as the culprit.
“We have heard the reports, but it is too early for us, we are gathering a lot of information,” he said.