The Dali, a Singapore-flagged ship, crashed into the bridge early on Tuesday, knocking its whole span into the Patapsco River.
It was not immediately clear whether anyone was hurt or killed, but authorities declared the collapse a mass-casualty event.
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It wasn’t immediately clear why the Dali crashed.
ABC News, citing US officials, said that the Dali lost propulsion soon before hitting the support pillar. Livestream video viewed by Business Insider showed the ship’s lights cutting out shortly before impact.
It is not the first time the Dali has hit something.
The ship was involved in another collision in July 2016, the year after it was built.
Maritime blogs, including Shipwreck Log and VesselFinder, posted videos of the stern of the same container vessel scraping against a quay in Antwerp, Belgium.
The facts here are still murky — but spotting any warning signs or patterns in the ship’s past could help explain what went wrong, and how to avoid similar accidents in the future.
VesselFinder reported that the incident was caused by a mistake made by the master and pilot on board. No injuries were reported, however, there was damage to the stern, the blog post said. The aftermath of the collision was shared on YouTube by ZP Videos.
A spokesperson for the Port of Antwerp confirmed to Business Insider that the Dali did collide with the quay there in 2016.
However, the person said they “can’t give any information about the cause of the accident.”
The ship has appeared to change ownership after the 2016 crash, VesselFinder reported.
In the 2016 video the ship had its home port marked as Majuro in the Marshall Islands.
Its registration later changed to Singapore, as seen in an image taken in 2018.
It is currently owned by Grace Ocean Pte Ltd. and is managed by Synergy Marine Group, Reuters reported. It had been chartered by the shipping giant Maersk, and its next stop was Colombo, Sri Lanka.
In a statement sent to Business Insider, Maersk said it was “horrified” at the crash. It said the Dali was carrying Maersk cargo but that none of its staff were on board.
