NTSB only makes recommendations and reports findings. FBI (probably due to jurisdiction issues) is most likely interested in the pre-departure condition of the engine and gensets. i.e. whether someone knew / should have known about mechanical / electrical issues, whether someone in the wheelhouse or shoreside pressured anybody to depart, etc. Basically trying to determine who knew what and when and does anything rise to the level of criminality. Pretty standard fare.
I just heard that there is or is going to be a criminal investigation. It is thought that some or all of the Dali's crew knew that there were problems with the generator engine. The flip side of this is that supposedly there was some engine work done while the ship was docked in Baltimore. As of now we don't know whether it was that particular engine, or whether the crew (Captain) actually felt that the problems had been corrected. Stay tuned.
And they found the 4th deceased. Very sad. Hopefully they can find the last two and the families can find closure.
...FBI investigation will no doubt focus on what captain knew and when, since he is ultimately responsible...
Same across this article in a trucking publication I follow. https://www.thetrucker.com/trucking...IAbzc4drpm-6heQgbib7pfkurM1l2igDRoQ5mEfgeNn3U
The Dali was headed to Sri Lanka which is nearly 9,000 miles from Baltimore and involves crossing the Atlantic at one of it's widest points, then traversing the Mediterranean the long way. At that point it would still have the Suez Canal and a couple of thousand miles left to go. If the Captain was so stupid that he would depart on such a trip without almost 100% confidence in his engines, he should never be allowed to command a vessel larger then a Bass Boat. Ever. I hope that he didn't know of any engine issues.
There is one engine. There are multiple gensets. Not to say there could have been a mulitple failures in the gensets, but more than likely in the breakers or controls. When at the pier I believe they are hooked up to shore power so an issue with the reefers is not likely the gensets. Going to be interesting to hear the final story.
Actually the Dali has one main engine that drives the propeller directly. It does nothing else; it doesn't have a generator, so at least one of the Diesel generators must be running to power the fuel injectors on the main engine. There are four generators that are Diesels, but much smaller then the main propulsion engine. Even if the engines were fine, if the main power buss dropped out, the ship would lose everything.
Correct. I've pulled electric refrigerated containers on genset equipped trailer chassis. Older units can be noisy as hell. Newer containers may be equipped with self contained diesel powered refrigeration units, known as "reefers" in trucking. Their fuel tanks need to be regularly checked to ensure they don't run dry.
An unrelated near-miss on the Mississipsi recently. Wow. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/eric...mj?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
...I'm sure owners of Dali have made enough money from minimizing tug assistance to cover accident damage. Welcome to "new math" risk assessment...
ever notice guardrails on the road? Or how the ends are now buried as opposed to sticking out waiting to impale a car? Or those big impact-cushioning setups at exits to keep you from hitting solid concrete head-on? It took a ton of liability lawsuits to make such features universal. Kinda the same concept -- the fools in charge of that bridge and a ton of others never invested in protective barriers, even though Sunshine Skyway showed just how badly they were needed. "Sure, Sunshine Skyway was bad, but hey, that was in the past -- it could never happen here -- plus look at the cost to protect the bridges!" The loss, lawsuits, and liability from this one is going to force their hands. Yeah, the ship hit the bridge, but stupid penny-pinching excuse-making pass-the-buck not-my-job bureaucracy helped make the disaster possible.
The guy that made the original decision probably retired with a golden parachute - thanks to the money he “saved” - long ago. Someone else’s problem now. And ask Mr. Earnhardt and others about “soft walls,” or Fireball Roberts about fuel cells… both Smokey Yunick ideas that took avoidable tragedies for implementation.
We are way off topic now, but there were a number of drivers maimed for life or killed (Ernie Irvan, Jeremy Nadeau, Ricky Craven, Neil Bonnett, Tony Roper, etc.) in the 1990s and early 2000s, but it unfortunately took the loss of NASCAR's biggest star in order for them to do something about it.
