The NTSB gives an update on the Francis Scott Key bridge collapse in Baltimore, Maryland, following the impact of a Singaporean-flagged cargo ship, the Dali.

According to the update, 56 containers of hazardous materials were on board, including corrosive flammable cells, lithium ion batteries, and other hazardous materials.  Some of the HAZMAT containers were compromised and some fell into the water.  The briefing also gives a preliminary outline as an outcome of an initial review of the voyage data recorder (VDR) for six hours 00:00 to 06:00 on the morning of the impact. The timeline discussion occurs at 11:00 of the video below.  WATCH:

(Via Fox News) -[…] Homendy said the investigation would be a “massive undertaking” that is expected two take one to two years. She added that the NTSB will not hesitate to issue urgent safety recommendations during that time frame. A preliminary report is expected in only two to four weeks.

Part of the investigation will be determining what caused the ship to lose power before hitting the bridge. The source of that outage remained unknown as of Wednesday, Homendy said.

Homendy said tugboats were called to help the vessel leave the port and get to the main channel. The vessel does not have any tugboats at this time. Homendy confirmed that vessel did not have any tugboats helping it navigate through the waters before it hit the bridge. The VDR showed that the pilot called for tugboats just before 1:30 a.m. after the vessel hit the bridge.

The NTSB has confirmed that there were 21 crewmembers on board the vessel at the time of the accident plus two pilots. (LINK)

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