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Safety officials may investigate whether contaminated fuel played a role in the collapse of the Baltimore Bridge, causing the ship to lose power before hitting the Francis Scott Key Bridge, according to reports.
The large container ship Dali crashed into part of a decades-old bridge early Tuesday, killing six people and causing millions of dollars in damage.
Federal, state and local authorities have launched investigations into what went wrong.Officials said part of the investigation will examine whether “dirty fuel” contributed to the ship’s initial loss of power. wall street journal.
A police officer on the boat told the outlet that the lights started flickering about an hour after The Dari departed. Soon, the smell of burning fuel filled the engine room, police said. The crew issued a mayday call, but the ship was unable to drop anchor and drifted toward the bridge, the newspaper said.
Marine experts say dirty fuel is a long-standing problem in the industry and could be a factor in the Baltimore Harbor crash.
Business Insider has reached out to Dali’s owner, Grace Ocean PTE, and Dali’s manager, Synergy Marin, for comment.
A representative for Dali’s charterer, Maersk, told BI: “We are closely monitoring the investigations carried out by the authorities and the vessel operator, as well as conducting our own investigation.”
2018 report A study by the Atlantic Council, an international affairs think tank, found that marine fuel is contaminated with many industrial products, which can ultimately lead to ship engine failures and power outages.
said Gerald Scoggins, a veteran oil and gas industry principal engineer. washington post Dirty fuel can clog the ship’s filters leading to the main generator. If the ship’s main generator stops, it can cause a complete power outage to the ship and catastrophe at sea.
Scoggins told the magazine that ships typically use different fuels for different parts of a voyage. If the vessel is still in port, like the Dali was at the time of the accident, the vessel typically relies on light diesel fuel and may be contaminated with water, mud and algae, Scoggins said. Stated.
John Catsimatidis, CEO of United Refining Company, said: fox news It is not uncommon for oil companies to sell contaminated fuel to ships, he said.
“We give them 80% real fuel and 20% garbage,” Kasimatidis told the outlet.
Ian Dolby, one of the authors of the Atlantic Council report, said the fuel that enters ships during port calls is typically mixed with something called cutterstock, which contains unregulated contaminants. He told the Post that this is often included.
The Atlantic Council report said inspections of commercial vessels found fuel mixed with motor oil, as well as byproducts from plastics, rubber and fertilizer.
It’s still too early to determine the cause of the Baltimore bridge collapse, but industry experts say “dirty fuel” was one of several possible contributing factors to the accident.
National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference this week that the investigation will look into Dali’s business and safety records.
The ship has undergone more than 20 port inspections since it was built in 2015, according to data from the international shipping database Equasis. Dali was charged in June 2023 with defects in her propulsion and auxiliary equipment. The ship reported a loss of her propulsion before Tuesday’s crash, but it is unclear whether it is related to the same problem reported in June.