Contact of Containership Dali with the Francis Scott Key Bridge
and Subsequent Bridge Collapse
Marine Investigation Preliminary Report
DCA24MM031
2
Dali
2.1 Background and Specifications
The Dali, a 947-foot-long, steel-hulled general cargo vessel (containership),
was built by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. in 2015. The vessel’s draft on
departure was 39.9 feet fore and aft, with a cargo of 4,680 containers (56,675 metric
tons of containerized cargo). The ship and cargo displaced 112,383 metric tons as
loaded at departure.
Singapore-based Grace Ocean Private Limited, the vessel’s owner, owns
55 ships-a mix of containerships (including Dali), bulk carriers, and tankers. As of
March 26, Singapore-based Synergy Marine Group, the vessel manager who
provided the crew and operated the vessel for the owner, managed 55 ships under
Panama, Marshall Islands, Hong Kong, Liberia, and Singapore flags, including the
Dali. The vessel was classed by ClassNK, one of several nongovernmental
classification societies that establish and maintain standards for the construction and
operation of ships. Through construction and later periodic surveys, classification
societies confirm a vessel meets the class’s technical rules.
2.2 US Port Calls in March 2024
Since arriving from Sri Lanka to the United States on March 19, the ship had
made two other US port calls (Newark, New Jersey, from March 19 until March 21,
and Norfolk, Virginia, from March 22 to March 23). On March 23, at 0236, the Dali
moored at the Seagirt Marine Terminal in Baltimore Harbor.
2.2.1
Electrical Power Loss on Previous Day
On March 25, about 10 hours before leaving Baltimore, the Dali experienced a
blackout (loss of electrical power to the HV and LV buses) during in-port
maintenance. While working on the diesel engine exhaust scrubber system for the
diesel engine driving the only online generator (generator no. 2), a crewmember
mistakenly closed an inline engine exhaust damper. Closure of this damper
effectively blocked the engine’s cylinder exhaust gases from traveling up its stack and
out of the vessel, causing the engine to stall. When the system detected a loss of
power, generator no. 3 automatically started and connected to the HV bus.
Vessel power was restored when crewmembers manually closed HR2 and LR2.
Generator no. 3 continued to run for a short period, but insufficient fuel pressure
7 The NTSB is not aware of any other vessel power outages occurring in Baltimore or while in
its prior ports, Newark or Norfolk.
13 of 24
This information is preliminary and subject to change.

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Bill Hwang told panicked Wall Street investment banks that his family office Archegos needed up to three weeks to “make everyone whole” shortly before the fund collapsed in 2021, which ended up costing his lenders more than $10bn.

On the second day of Hwang’s trial for fraud and market manipulation, the jury in New York heard portions of a call he held three years ago with six investment banks that were on the hook for billions of dollars as the value of Archegos’s investments plummeted.

The audio recording was a rare insight into the dealings of Hwang, who kept a low profile on Wall Street and worked hard to mask his trading strategy and the positions taken by Archegos, which managed his personal fortune. 

For some on the call — which included bankers from Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Nomura, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and UBS — it was the first time they had heard from Hwang directly.

“This is Bill. Bill Hwang,” he said. “We are really confident in our ability to wind down these names given a little more time,” he told the banks during the call on March 25, 2021.

Earlier that week, the value of Archegos’s largest positions, especially media group ViacomCBS, had plummeted in value, and Hwang was being required by the banks to provide extra cash.

Prosecutors have alleged that Archegos executives misled investment banks to believe that the fund held large positions in easily tradable stocks such as Amazon and Apple at other lenders, when in reality it had similarly concentrated bets in less liquid stocks across all its lenders.

Hwang estimated on the call that it would probably take two to three weeks to sell his holdings and repay the banks what they were owed.

Bryan Fairbanks, a senior executive at UBS at the time of Archegos’s collapse who testified in the case, described some of the numbers given by Hwang during the call as “extremely alarming”.

Shortly after the call, UBS and some of the other investment banks decided to sell the positions they were holding for Hwang, resulting in a fire sale of several stocks.

Fairbanks testified that it took UBS between six and seven weeks to exit positions tied to Archegos.

UBS ended up losing about $860mn. Credit Suisse, now owned by UBS, lost more than $5bn from Archegos.

At the trial in Manhattan federal court, US prosecutors have accused Hwang of running his family office Archegos Capital as a criminal enterprise in an attempt to become a “legend on Wall Street”. Hwang and Patrick Halligan, his top deputy and Archegos’s former finance chief, who have pleaded not guilty, face decades behind bars if convicted.

Barry Berke, a lawyer for Hwang, has sought to portray his client as a high-conviction investor who took large bets in companies he believed in, such as ViacomCBS and Discovery.

Cynthia Hornor poses with Nimble, the first mixed-breed dog ever to win the Westminster Kennel Club dog show’s agility competition, in New York on Monday.

Jennifer Peltz/AP

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Jennifer Peltz/AP

Cynthia Hornor poses with Nimble, the first mixed-breed dog ever to win the Westminster Kennel Club dog show’s agility competition, in New York on Monday.

Jennifer Peltz/AP

She was nimble, she was oh-so-very quick – with the perfect moniker to match.

A 6-year-old canine from of Ellicott City, Md., named Nimble beat out 350 competitors to become the first mixed-breed dog to win the Westminster Kennel Club’s Masters Agility Championship in New York.

“I was surprised,” Nimble’s handler Cynthia Hornor told NPR. “But she proved that she’s the little engine that could.”

Nimble, who finished the race in a blistering 28.76 seconds, is a first in more ways than one: She also became the first dog from the 12-inch height division to take home the top prize since the agility competition — itself the first WKC event to allow mixed breeds to compete — was introduced in 2014.

Dogs compete in the 8-inch, 12-inch, 16-inch, and 20-inch categories. The top 10 dogs from each height category go on to compete in the championships.

While she made two firsts, Nimble also had at least two big aces in her paws.

Despite coming in an underdog — as part of the non-purebred category the WKC refers to as “All American Dogs” — Nimble is a combination of two pedigrees made up of winners: a border collie-papillon mix. Border collies have won eight of the last 11 agility titles, while the top three finishers in this year’s competition were all papillons.

Nimble’s second secret weapon: her owner and handler Hornor, who won the Masters Agility title in 2023 with her other dog Truant, a 20-inch border collie.

“This is going to be a fun run,” a Fox Sports announcer predicted on Saturday as Nimble eagerly waited for the clock to start her final run.

When it did, the pointy-eared black and white pup rocketed her way through a series of hoops, seesaws, ladders and more with hardly any cueing needed from Horner.

“I said it was going to be fun, but I didn’t know it was going to be an e-ticket!” the announcer said halfway through Nimble’s race, with eager crowds cheering in the background.

Hornor says she hopes Nimble’s big win will be enough to put to bed any false ideas that mixed breeds can’t be as fast as purebred dogs.

“Agility is the equalizer,” Hornor said. “Mixed-breed dogs can be just as fast as purebred dogs.”

Nimble’s reward for proving it?

“She got steak, and she got to play,” said Hornor. “She just really loves playing, so her reward is being able to go run and play.”

And if there’s one lesson Hornor wants other dog owners to take away from Nimble’s big win, it’s that agility is a great way for owners to bond with their dogs.

“It’s the thing I enjoy the most about this sport,” said Hornor, who has been an agility trainer for more than 20 years. “When I see my students, I love seeing their bond grow with their dogs because of agility.”