The collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge occurred when the Dali shipping container, weighing 95,000 gross tons, collided with it on Tuesday morning. Experts believe that neither the bridge, which was built in 1977, nor the 985-foot-long cargo ship, moving at 8 knots (approximately 9 miles per hour), could avoid the collision. The incident was not solely the fault of one party but rather a combination of factors that led to a tragic event impacting Baltimore, including the presumed loss of six construction workers and an extensive repair effort expected to take years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The bridge’s original construction, completed over four decades ago, took five years and $316 million.
The Key Bridge tragedy is indicative of a longstanding issue with shipping-related accidents. Over the past decade, there have been 27,477 reported shipping incidents, with 3,098 involving collisions, according to Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty’s 2023 Safety and Shipping Review. Additionally, from 1960 to 2015, there were 35 major bridge collapses caused by barge or ship collisions, with about half occurring in the United States, as reported by the World Association for Waterborne Transport in 2018.
The frequency of such incidents underscores the challenges faced by U.S. infrastructure and cargo shipping safety protocols. According to Captain Rahul Khanna, global head of marine risk consulting at Allianz, port infrastructure and the growth of the cargo shipping sector are closely linked. However, addressing the underlying issues that contributed to the tragedy is a complex endeavor.
“It’s difficult to assign blame,” Khanna remarked. “These are systemic issues that require comprehensive solutions.”
Ships are getting bigger—and harder to control
Khanna described the collapse of the Baltimore bridge as “one of the worst nightmares for a ship captain.”
The Dali vessel was on its designated course towards the Port of Baltimore around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday until it experienced a power loss while approaching the bridge, as explained by Sal Mercogliano, an associate professor of history at Campbell University in North Carolina, in a YouTube video.
“The ship goes completely dark,” Mercogliano stated. “Just to be clear: the worst feeling ever on a ship is to lose power.”
According to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, the Dali vessel encountered a “momentary loss of propulsion.” Mercogliano noted in his video that smoke began to emanate from the ship, causing its trajectory to veer to the right and collide with the bridge’s pillar.
This incident wasn’t the first for the Dali vessel. It had previously collided with a quay in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2016, as reported by Reuters. Public records available on Equasis indicated that the ship sustained “hull damage impairing seaworthiness.” Synergy Marine Group, the ship’s management company.
Khanna highlighted that one of the primary challenges in managing cargo shipping accidents is the significant increase in vessel size, which has surged by about 1,500% since the industry’s expansion 50 years ago, according to Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty.
Larger cargo ships complicate the navigation of safety incidents, Khanna explained. Salvage and rescue efforts take longer with larger vessels, and the risk of fire spreading is heightened due to the increased fuel and flammable materials carried onboard. Despite the growing size of ships, personnel levels have either remained the same or decreased, making it more challenging for crews to respond to emergencies. The sheer magnitude of a vessel can pose obstacles, as demonstrated by the Ever Given, one of the world’s largest shipping containers, which became lodged in the Suez Canal for six days in 2021. The Suez Canal Authority demanded $550 million for its salvage operation.
However, these vessels are unlikely to grow significantly larger due to the physical constraints of port infrastructure, such as smaller cranes and bridges that cannot accommodate larger ships. Additionally, there are differences in funding: Companies can invest in larger vessels if demand for goods is high, but infrastructure development largely relies on government funding.
“It’s simpler to construct a larger ship,” Khanna remarked. “Building a new port or bridge is a much more extensive and complex undertaking.”
Foundational cracks in American infrastructure
The Key Bridge stands as one of the longest steel continuous truss bridges globally, a design known for its resource efficiency but ill-suited for today’s cargo industry.
According to Craig Stodart, bridge design director at P. Joseph Lehman Consulting Engineers, the bridge’s design lacks adequate protections around its piers, leaving it vulnerable to severe damage in the event of a collision.
Stodart explains, “This particular bridge is what we call ‘fracture critical,’ meaning a failure in one section could lead to a collapse of the entire structure, as seen in this incident.”
Steel truss bridges have been gradually disappearing due to safety concerns, as noted by Steve Hutchins, the former chief bridge inspector for the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s Region 2, in a 2017 News Channel 9 ABC interview. Many of these bridges were constructed before the widespread use of concrete, a crucial stabilizer in modern bridge construction.
While the Key Bridge’s structural integrity did not appear compromised, as indicated by inspection reports from May 2023 labeling it in “fair condition,” the incident underscores the inherent weaknesses of steel truss bridge designs in today’s port environments.
However, Ilgin Guler, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Penn State University, points out that structural deficiencies plague many bridges across the United States, posing risks to millions of daily commuters.
Guler states, “There is a well-documented issue with bridges in the United States, with many people crossing structurally deficient bridges every day.”
According to the Infrastructure Report Card’s 2021 report, over 7% of U.S. bridges are considered structurally deficient, with more than 178 million trips taken across compromised bridges daily. Nearly half of the country’s 617,000 bridges are over 50 years old. President Joe Biden’s administration has prioritized addressing these infrastructure challenges, with a significant allocation of funds towards road and bridge improvements in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, totaling $110 billion out of a $1.2 trillion budget.
A moment of reckoning
The impact of infrastructure disasters on local and national economies is evident in the aftermath of the Baltimore tragedy. The Key Bridge served as a critical artery for the city’s traffic flow, with an annual crossing of 12 million vehicles. Additionally, the Port of Baltimore, positioned near the Midwest, stands as one of the largest ports in the U.S. for cars and trucks. In 2024, it managed 850,000 vehicles and handled 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo valued at $80 billion, as reported by Maryland Governor Wes Moore.
Such incidents often serve as a catalyst for reflection and the reprioritization of infrastructure maintenance, noted Guler. She expressed hope that this event would underscore the critical importance of infrastructure upkeep and spur concerted efforts to ensure the stability and safety of these structures.
However, Khanna emphasized that stakeholders within the port industry must take these incidents seriously, recognizing that addressing collision risks extends beyond the shipping sector alone. While he previously expressed concerns about the safety implications of larger cargo containers, he now observes industry professionals actively seeking solutions. For instance, global shipping companies are conducting research on fire propagation within containers to enhance response capabilities.
Encouragingly, statistics indicate progress in safety measures, with a 36% decrease in lost vessel incidents and a stabilization of safety incidents such as collisions to approximately 3,000 annually, according to Allianz’s safety report. Khanna stressed that the industry’s commitment to addressing these issues should prompt heightened accountability among port stakeholders to actively engage and share responsibility in ensuring safety measures are upheld.
“The stakeholders beyond the industry—such as ports and terminals—must also step up and assume their fair share of responsibility,” Khanna emphasized.
