Minutes earlier than the container ship Dali collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, it radioed for assist from close by tugboats, authorities mentioned Wednesday.
The Nationwide Transportation Security Board mentioned that it had retrieved round six hours of information from the ship’s Voyage Information Recorder, or VDR, a tool just like an airplane’s black field recorder.
The NTSB launched its preliminary observations from the VDR, within the aftermath of Tuesday’s catastrophe that noticed the destruction of the bridge in addition to the presumed deaths of a minimum of six folks.
Marcel Muise, the protection board investigator, described the contents of the VDR within the minutes earlier than the ship collided with the bridge.
He mentioned that the ship was recorded leaving Seagirt Marine Terminal at 12.39 a.m. native time.
Round 45 minutes later the ship had entered the channel, he mentioned, touring at a land velocity of round 9.2 miles per hour.
“At 01.24 and 59 seconds, quite a few audible alarms had been recorded on the ship’s bridge audio,” Muise added.
The VDR stopped recording information for a few minute at this level, although audio recordings continued on a secondary energy supply, he mentioned.
Steering instructions and rudder orders might be heard, he added, and “at round 01.26 and 39 seconds, the ship’s pilot made a common VHF radio name for tugs within the neighborhood to help.”
“That is the indication of the primary signal of needing assist,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy mentioned.
It is unclear how the tugs responded.
Round this time a name was additionally made to the Maryland Transportation Authority relating to a blackout, Muise mentioned.
The pilot ordered the ship to drop anchor, and likewise gave steering instructions, however by 1.27 a.m. the pilot radioed to report that “the Dali had misplaced all energy and was approaching the bridge,” Muise mentioned.
That is when the MTDA issued an order to shut all site visitors lanes on the bridge, he added — a transfer that Maryland Gov. Wes Moore mentioned saved lives.
By 1.29 a.m., the Dali was touring at a land velocity of eight miles per hour, Muise mentioned.
Then, he mentioned, “the VDR audio recorded sounds in line with the collision of the bridge.”
That is additionally the second that the lights on the bridge might be seen flickering out in video footage from the scene, he added.
Screenshot/YouTube/StreamTime Stay
The NTSB now plans to assemble technical specialists to evaluation all the recording and to make a transcript of all dialog and alarms, Muise mentioned.
The VDR gathers audio from the ship’s bridge, its radio, and sensor information just like the ship’s velocity, heading, rudder angle, in addition to some alarm info, Muise mentioned.
A VDR is required to report 30 days of information, Homendy mentioned.
