The Federal Bureau of Investigation is now launching a criminal investigation into the crash and collapse of the Baltimore bridge, an incident that left six workers deceased and the harbor closed down in the early part of April. While the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge happened in the city of Baltimore, it impacts the whole nation due to the fact the port in that area is used for commerce and trade. Lots of people, especially Amazon and other similar companies, will be dropping a lot of cash to create work arounds to get products and purchases to people all over America.
The investigators are, according to The American Tribune, in the early parts of the probe and are currently focusing their efforts on the internal systems of the ship, like the power system shut off, which ultimately led to the cargo vessel veering off course and crashing into the bridge.
Particularly, the FBI’s criminal probe will investigate whether the crew of the cargo ship Dali knew that their vessel’s internal systems were not properly functioning when their ship headed toward the bridge. Such is what the Washington Post reported, saying that the investigation “will look at least in part at whether the crew left the port knowing the vessel had serious systems problems, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter.”
Continuing, the Washington Post reported that the investigators are still reviewing the series of events that led to the Dali slamming into one of the Francis Scott Key Bridge’s support pillars, plowing through it and taking down the bridge. The WP reported, “Authorities are reviewing the events leading up to the moment that the Dali, a 985-foot Singapore-flagged ship, lost power while leaving the Port of Baltimore and slammed into one of the bridge’s support pillars, said the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing probe.”
The report from WaPo then went on to add that the FBI didn’t provide a whole lot of detailed information when they were asked to provide comment on the probe, stating only, “The FBI is present aboard the cargo ship Dali conducting court authorized law enforcement activity.”
The investigation by the FBI isn’t the only one currently being conducted. Another probe into the matter is being headed up by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Jennifer Homendy, the chairperson for the NTSB, provided testimony in front of Congress, stating that the NTSB is currently working with Hyundai, which is the company that manufactured the engine in the ship, to find out what might have went wrong, as it looks like it shorted out, which is what caused the ship to lose power and ultimately crash into the bridge.
“We have had the manufacturer of equipment in the engine room to look closely at the electrical power system. We’re continuing to look at that. We’ve asked for additional assistance from the manufacturer who returned from overseas this week with experts to look at the circuit breakers,” Homendy said during her testimony before Congress.
She then went on to offer an explanation as to why investigators are working closely with Hyundai to look into the ship’s power and brake system, saying, “This is technology that exists on the vessel. It is components on the vessel, so we do need the expertise of Hyundai to help us in getting that information. Can we have outside experts as part of that? Yes. We have the internal expertise as well, but we do need to get the manufacturer who has come here to assist us both with the circuit breakers and the electrical power system, so we are working together.”
Noting that NTSB investigators have, in their preliminary investigation, found that the electrical system appears to have been at fault, as evidenced by the ship’s blinking lights right before the crash, Homendy said, “That is where our focus is right now in this investigation. Of course, that’s preliminary. It could take different roads, different paths as we continue this investigation.”
The Daily Mail adds that other investigators are looking into the design of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and its collapse. Particularly, they are examining how such a bridge could be built with more effective and substantial pier protection to stop a ship like the Dali from crashing into it in a similar scenario. That could involve barriers to prevent ships from reaching the pillars, as an engineer told Fox News Channel that other, modern bridges have to protect from similar incidents.
I wonder what the FBI isn’t telling us? Could the folks who thought this was a terrorist attack have been correct after all? Hopefully, we’ll know sooner rather than later.