The collapse of the Baltimore Bridge was not the first serious accident involving the giant container ship Dali

The propulsion of the cargo ship that struck Baltimore’s Francis Key Bridge as it left port early Tuesday morning failed and the vessel plunged into the freezing Patapsco River. The crew warned Maryland authorities of a possible collision because they had lost control.

“The vessel advised the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) that it had lost control of the vessel” and a collision with the bridge “was possible,” according to an unclassified Department of Homeland Security report. “The vessel struck the bridge, causing a complete collapse.”

An official who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed to USA TODAY that DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is working with federal, state and local authorities “to understand the potential impact of this morning’s collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.”

Clay Diamond, executive director of the American Pilots’ Association, told USA TODAY that power problems on cargo ships are not uncommon because they are so large that they cannot easily correct their course.

“Probably virtually every pilot in the country has experienced a power outage, but they’re usually only temporary,” Diamond said. “This was a complete power outage on the ship, so that’s unusual. Of course, this happened in the worst possible place.”

The ship that had an accident on Tuesday, the Dali, was already involved in at least one previous accident when it collided with a jetty in Belgium.

That 2016 incident occurred when the Dali was leaving port in Antwerp and hit a stone loading dock, damaging the ship’s stern, according to VesselFinder.com, a website that tracks ships around the world. An investigation found that an error by the ship’s captain and pilot was to blame.

No one was injured in this accident, although the ship had to be repaired and undergo a full inspection before it could return to service. The pier – or berth – was also badly damaged and had to be closed.

VesselFinder reports that the Dali was chartered by Maersk, the same company that chartered it during the Port of Baltimore incident.

The nine-year-old container ship had passed previous inspections during its time at sea, but during one such inspection in June at the port of San Antonio in Chile, officials discovered a defect in “the propulsion and auxiliary machinery (gauges, thermometers, etc.),” ​​according to the Tokyo MOU, an intergovernmental maritime body in the Asia-Pacific region.

The report did not contain any further information about the defect other than to state that it was not serious enough to require the ship to be taken out of service.

Follow here for live updates: Baltimore’s Key Bridge collapses after boat collision; construction crew missing: Live updates

Why did Dali crash into the Baltimore Bridge?

A U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly said Tuesday that authorities were investigating the incident and whether a power outage in the onboard systems occurred early Tuesday morning, which could have been caused by a mechanical failure.

Accidents at sea, also known as marine casualties, are not uncommon, the source told USA TODAY. But “collisions,” in which a moving object collides with a stationary one and results in catastrophic consequences, are far less common. The investigation into the power outage aboard the Dali, a Singapore-flagged ship, will be a top priority.

In a video It was posted on social media that the lights on the Dali were turned off and then back on before the ship hit a support pillar on the bridge.

Over the years, numerous cargo and cruise ships have lost their propulsion.

The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea requires that all international ships must have two independent sources of power, both of which must be capable of independently maintaining the seaworthiness of the ship, according to a safety study on ship power outages that cites the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea.

The Dali’s emergency generator was likely responsible for the lights coming back on after the first power outage, Diamond said.

“When the power went out, there was still some steerage left,” he said. “We were told the ship would never be able to get underway again. The emergency generator is itself a diesel – so when you turn on the generator, it also creates a cloud of exhaust fumes.”

Under maritime law, all foreign-flagged vessels must be piloted into state ports by a state-certified pilot. The Dali’s pilot is licensed by the Association of Maryland Pilots.

Diamond described the incident based on information from the Maryland agency that licensed the pilot on board the vessel. His organization represents that group and all other state pilot agencies in the United States.

“The pilot was directing the navigation of the ship when it happened,” he said. “He asked the captain to restart the engines. They were unable to do that, so the pilot did everything he could. He tried to steer to keep the ship in the channel. He also dropped the anchor to slow the ship down and determine direction.

“Neither was enough. The ship never regained its engine power.”

How big is the Dali ship?

The Dali is a 984-foot-long container ship built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea in 2015. Cruising at about 22 knots – roughly 25 miles per hour – it has traveled around the world, transporting goods from port to port.

Built from high-strength steel, the vessel has an engine and a propeller, according to MarineTraffic.com.

The Dali arrived in Baltimore on Sunday from the port of Norfolk, Virginia, after previously being in New York and passing through the Panama Canal.

It remains at the collapse site while authorities investigate.

Who owns and runs the Dali?

The vessel is owned by Singapore-based Grace Ocean Pte Ltd but managed by Singapore-based Synergy Marine Group. It was carrying cargo belonging to Maersk customers, according to a statement from the shipping company.

“We are deeply concerned about this incident and are closely monitoring the situation,” Maersk said in the statement.

Synergy, which describes itself as a leading ship management company with more than 600 vessels, issued a statement on its website confirming the incident and reporting that there were no injuries among the crew and that the water was not polluted. According to Synergy, there were two pilots on board and a total of 22 crew members, all from India.

USA TODAY reached out to Synergy on Tuesday, but the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Contributors: Josh Susong

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Dali ship that caused the Baltimore bridge collapse was already involved in an accident