Tuesday’s catastrophe was not the first time a vessel has slammed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, which was built in the 1970s. Four decades ago, another container ship that also lost power hit the same bridge — and it stood strong.
The dramatic difference in outcomes between the two accidents is an example of the dangers caused by the massive increase in shipping vessel size in the intervening decades.
A source review of public records and interviews with about a dozen bridge and shipping experts show that hundreds of bridges over US waterways were built decades ago when container ships were a fraction of the size and weight they are today. Bridges of the era when the Key Bridge was built weren’t designed to protect against collisions with ships as big as the Dali, the vessel that caused the Baltimore to topple.
The Dali has a capacity of about 10,000 20-foot equivalent units of cargo — compared to the approximate cap of about 2,500 20-foot equivalent units that could be carried by container ships in the 1970s, source has reported.
