What caused this incident is still
unclear, but BBC Verify has been looking at video of the collision and the
Dali’s travel history on ship tracking platform MarineTraffic.
The
container ship set off from Baltimore’s Seagirt Marine Terminal at around 00:24
local time (04:24 GMT) on 26 March.
Its speed
steadily increased and it maintained a straight route south east along the
Patapsco River.
Then at 01:25 MarineTraffic data shows that the ship suddenly diverted
from its straight course and began to slow down.
Around this
time, video shows that all lights on the exterior of the ship suddenly turned
off and smoke began emanating from the ship’s funnel.
The Dali then hit a portion of the
bridge at 01:28, causing it to collapse.