Ship strikes Key Bridge and closes the Baltimore ship channel
Ship strikes Key Bridge and closes the Baltimore ship channel. The disruption ran from 2024-03-26 (26 March 2024) to 2024-06-10 (10 June 2024), 77 days, affecting Baltimore. Baltimore averaged 2.1 calls per day during the event window against an expected 5.5 (-61.5%). Baltimore averaged 0.2 calls per day during the event window against an expected 1.5 (-1.3).
Key facts
- Started
- 2024-03-26 (26 March 2024)
- Ended
- 2024-06-10 (10 June 2024)
- Status
- ended
- Severity
- 3 Significant
- Scope
- port
- Chokepoints
- None
- Ports
- Baltimore
- Lanes
- None
- Countries
- United States
- Confidence
- high: The date and cause come from the National Transportation Safety Board investigation, and the channel milestones from the Army Corps of Engineers and the Unified Command that carried out the work.
- First reported
- 2024-03-26 (26 March 2024)
- Severity basis: Port closure of seven days or more; the deep draft channel serving the Port of Baltimore was blocked from 2024-03-26 until its restoration on 2024-06-10.
What happened
On 2024-03-26 (26 March 2024) the container ship Dali lost electrical power on departure from Baltimore and struck a pier of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed into the Patapsco River and blocked the Fort McHenry Federal Channel, the deep draft approach to the Port of Baltimore. Six highway workers on the bridge were killed. Temporary alternate channels for shallow draft vessels opened in early April, and a limited access channel 300 feet wide and 35 feet deep followed on 2024-04-25. The Dali was refloated on 2024-05-20 and the channel was widened to 400 feet. The Army Corps of Engineers and the Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving announced on 2024-06-10 (10 June 2024) that the channel had been restored to 700 feet wide and 50 feet deep after about 50,000 tons of wreckage were removed.
Measured effect
Port calls, Baltimore
- Baseline (expected)
- 5.5 calls per day
- Observed
- 2.1 calls per day
- Change
- -3.4 (-61.5%)
- Standardised score
- -1.5
- Event window
- 2024-03-26 to 2024-06-10 (77 days)
- Baseline window
- 2024-01-23 to 2024-03-18 (56 valid days)
- Method
- wfm-effect-1.0
- Computed
- 2026-09-16 (16 September 2026), data revision 1:c6dfe8fc5c7d
Source: IMF PortWatch (portwatch.imf.org), International Monetary Fund, using UN Global Platform AIS data. Statistics derived by World Freight Monitor. Terms.
This is a measured change in public data during the event window, compared with a baseline before it. It shows timing, not cause. We describe an event as causing a change only when an official source says so.
Container ship port calls, Baltimore
- Baseline (expected)
- 1.5 calls per day
- Observed
- 0.2 calls per day
- Change
- -1.3 (percent omitted, baseline too small)
- Standardised score
- -1.3
- Event window
- 2024-03-26 to 2024-06-10 (77 days)
- Baseline window
- 2024-01-23 to 2024-03-18 (56 valid days)
- Method
- wfm-effect-1.0
- Computed
- 2026-09-16 (16 September 2026), data revision 1:c50a1d0d4dae
Source: IMF PortWatch (portwatch.imf.org), International Monetary Fund, using UN Global Platform AIS data. Statistics derived by World Freight Monitor. Terms.
This is a measured change in public data during the event window, compared with a baseline before it. It shows timing, not cause. We describe an event as causing a change only when an official source says so.
Timeline
- The Dali contacts a pier of the Francis Scott Key Bridge at about 01:29 local time after a loss of electrical power. The bridge falls across the main ship channel, ending deep draft access to the Port of Baltimore. [s1] [s2] [s5]
- The first temporary alternate channel opens around the wreckage for shallow draft vessels, the first of the interim routes used while the main channel stays blocked. [s3]
- A limited access channel 300 feet wide and 35 feet deep opens through the wreckage. [s3]
- The Dali is refloated and moved from the site, and the federal channel is opened at 400 feet wide and 50 feet deep. [s3]
- The Unified Command surveys the riverbed and certifies it safe for transit, and the Army Corps of Engineers and the Navy announce the channel restored to 700 feet wide and 50 feet deep. [s3]
- The National Transportation Safety Board adopts its final report, finding the probable cause to be a blackout caused by a loose signal wire connection at a terminal block. [s1] [s2]
Cause
The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause was a loss of electrical power caused by a loose signal wire connection to a terminal block, which stemmed from the improper installation of wire label banding and left the vessel without propulsion or steering near the bridge. The board said the bridge lacked countermeasures against a strike by an ocean going ship. Attributed by: National Transportation Safety Board. [s1] [s2]
Resolution
2024-06-10 (10 June 2024): Wreckage removal by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving restored the Fort McHenry Federal Channel to 700 feet wide and 50 feet deep on 2024-06-10, returning the Port of Baltimore to unrestricted deep draft access. [s3]
Corrections
No corrections to this record as of 2026-09-16 (16 September 2026).
Sources
- [s1] National Transportation Safety Board, Contact of containership Dali with the Francis Scott Key Bridge and subsequent bridge collapse, published 2025-11-18 (18 November 2025), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (official)
- [s2] National Transportation Safety Board, Contact of Containership Dali with Francis Scott Key Bridge and Subsequent Bridge Collapse, published 2025-11-18 (18 November 2025), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (official)
- [s3] U.S. Army, USACE announces full restoration of Baltimore's Fort McHenry Federal Channel, published 2024-06-10 (10 June 2024), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (official)
- [s5] gCaptain, Baltimore Bridge Hit By Ship - Major Collapse, published 2024-03-26 (26 March 2024), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (press)