Could tugboats have prevented the Baltimore bridge collapse?
With the 95,000-ton cargo ship Dali hurtling toward the Francis Scott Key Bridge, the harbor pilot commanding the vessel had just minutes to make his last attempts to avoid disaster. He declared distress, dropped anchor and, notably, called for help from nearby tugboats.
Two 5,000-horsepower tugs, which had helped guide the ship out of its berth at the Port of Baltimore and peeled off, turned back and raced toward the Dali. But it was too late. The massive ship slammed into the bridge Tuesday, toppling the span and killing six construction workers.
Whether those tugs could have averted the disaster with the Dali out of control is debatable. But experts interviewed by The Associated Press say they could have made a difference if the tugs had stuck by the ship longer, escorting it on its 18-minute trip through the channel, in a position to see it drifting off course and nudge it back in line.
Such extended tugboat escorts aren’t required or even customary in Baltimore or at many other U.S. ports, mostly because of the costs they would add for shippers. But with the increasing size of cargo ships and the threat they pose to bridges and other critical infrastructure, some are questioning whether they should be.
“I’m a big fan of tug escorts,” said Joseph Ahlstrom, a member of the Board of Commissioners of Pilots of the State of New York, which regulates the state’s harbor pilots. “If applied early enough and effectively, yes, a tug escort could prevent a collision with the bridge or with another ship, or going aground.”
“Going to sea is danger,” added Ahlstrom, who also teaches at the State University of New York’s Maritime College. “But if you’re going to go to sea, if you’re going to put yourself at risk, do whatever it takes to minimize risk.”
Experts told the AP that the Baltimore disaster highlights how each individual port makes its own tugboat rules, resulting in a patchwork across the nation, and how competition among ports for business from cost-conscious shipping companies has trumped calls for extended tugboat escorts that can add tens of thousands of dollars to every transit.
Baltimore’s port, operated by the state of Maryland, ordinarily uses tugboats to help maneuver big ships out of their docks and doesn’t require extended tugboat escorts into the port’s channel and broader Chesapeake Bay unless ordered by local harbor pilots or the U.S. Coast Guard over safety concerns tied to weather, traffic, cargo or mechanical issues. Shippers can also request tugs.
In the case of the Dali, two state harbor pilots boarded the Singaporeanflagged ship to take over navigation through the port as the vessel set out on a trip to Sri Lanka. Two tugboats, the Eric McAllister and the Bridget McAllister, guided the massive vessel out of the tight spaces of the dock and then released when the ship was safely in the channel.
But within minutes, according to satellite data that tracks vessel traffic, the 984-foot Dali began to drift out of its lane and veered more sharply before slamming into one of the main pillars of the bridge, which is a critical conduit for Baltimore truckers and commuters.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, said a review of the ship’s voyage data recorder showed the pilot’s 1:26 a.m. call for help from nearby tugs came about four minutes before impact.
“One of the things that was hard for me to believe is that they didn’t require tugs on the vessel as it was traversing toward the bridge,” said David Heindel, president of the Seafarers International Union, which represents U.S. merchant mariners.
“Some ports require tugs, depending on the vessel, usually tankers. You see where tugs have to escort ships in and out of port, especially narrow ports,” Heindel said. “In the end, I think that that may be exactly what happens in the Port of Baltimore.”
The Maryland Port Administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson said the service doesn’t direct tug operations in the port and the Dali’s departure “is the typical outbound scenario for these types of cargo ships.”