Key Bridge Collapses in Baltimore 

A cargo ship lost power and hit Baltimore's key bridge on March 26. The ship, called the Dali departed the Port of Baltimore but lost power, with the engine shutting down. The ship called a mayday, allowing for officials to stop traffic from coming on the bridge. At about 1:30 AM, the Dali struck a support pole of the Francis Scott Key bridge. It then collapsed in about 40 seconds. 

There was a construction crew on the bridge filling potholes at the time. Two were rescued from the water. The other six were searched for and are now presumed dead. The 22 members of the Dali are safe and thankfully uninjured. One of the harbor pilots aboard the Dali ordered the ship to be turned as much as possible and also that an anchor be dropped to try and slow the progress of the ship towards the bridge. Last year, the boat had been inspected at a port in Chile and was found to have problems with gauges and thermometers. However, no concern was brought to this issue at the time and the Dali's owners have refused to make a statement about this. 

This problem has provoked many deeper thoughts and questions about cargo ships and how safe they are. For example, how do we prevent this from happening again? What happened this time? What new safety measures or procedures should be added to ensure this doesn't happen again in the future? 

Safety procedures definitely must be brought up as cargo ships are very common and are going to continue navigating the treacherous waters of our oceans for the forseeable future. This means we must add more safety procedures into cargo ships. An example could be needing to pass a safety exam before leaving the harbor. For example, because the Dali didn't pass the inspection last year, it wouldn't be allowed to travel again until it fixed those problems. 

The world should use this incident as a warning. The US should come together to support the people of Baltimore and all those who are affected by the tragedy.