In the early morning of March 26, a massive cargo ship lost power and veered into a support pylon, collapsing the bridge into the Patapsco River and killing six people. Investigators have recovered the ship’s “black box” recorder, which provides data on an array of metrics, including the vessel’s speed, heading, location, alarms, as well as audio and radio communications from the bridge. The investigation will be overseen by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Maryland. On April 15, shortly after sunrise, federal agents appeared to board the ship, named Dali, according to video footage recorded by the Washington Post. Around a dozen federal authorities are said to have climbed aboard. “The FBI is present aboard the cargo ship Dali conducting court authorized law enforcement activity,” the agency said in a statement quoted by the Post. An FBI spokesperson confirmed to Reuters that agents were onboard. The agency said it had no additional information to provide to the public and would not issue additional comments. The Justice Department confirmed to the post that federal agents had boarded the ship to conduct a “court-approved search,” the Post reported. “My office generally will not confirm the existence of or otherwise comment about investigations,” Erek L. Barron, the U.S. attorney for Maryland, said in a statement quoted by the Post. “However, the public should know, whether it’s gun violence, civil rights abuse, financial fraud, or any other threat to public safety or property, we will seek accountability for anyone who may be responsible.” National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said last week that investigators would be focusing on the ship’s electrical system, given its loss of power moments before the crash. Some early reports indicated that the incident was the result of a cyber attack that may have been carried out by a U.S. adversary. “Welcome to the world of cyber terrorism,” investigative journalist Lara Logan wrote on social media platform X. “Acc to intel sources: The Baltimore bridge collapse was a 9/11 style attack but they won’t admit it and we cannot see it because it was a CYBER ATTACK.” Citing unnamed sources within the U.S. intelligence community, she added that the systems running the nation’s critical infrastructure (sewage, electric grid, shipping) are all “wide open systems” with no encryption and are easily hackable.The FBI has launched a criminal investigation into the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge.
