Complimentary Story
April 2024As most Americans were sleeping just after 1 a.m. on March 26, 2024, a significant financial and logistical blow was delivered to our nation’s already beleaguered supply chain and aging infrastructure. The event between 1:24 and 1:29 that morning is one of a thousand cuts that will continue to bleed for years to come.
The FBI Gets Ahead of the Story
Less than 12 hours after the Francis Scott Key bridge was struck by the outgoing container vessel Dali, Bill DelBagno, FBI Special Agent in charge of the Baltimore Field Office, held a press conference and assured the public that terrorism was not involved in this incident.
Interesting, as no such denials were made following the train disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, the fire in Maui, or the many fires involving food processing and distribution centers across the U.S. Yet, bodies were still submerged and unrecovered in the water when the FBI assured us that there is nothing to see here.
Equally interesting is that FBI Director Christopher Wray tapped DelBagno to head the Baltimore field office the day before the crash. Previously serving at the FBI headquarters in DC, he was at his desk in Baltimore on Monday morning and in front of the cameras on Tuesday.
America is at War
So far, twenty-first-century warfare does not need tanks in the streets or troops on the ground. Our enemies have been victorious at striking at America’s soft underbelly, and Communist China has been at the tip of the spear. The goal of the Communist Chinese, working parallel with the globalists, is to undermine and defeat the U.S., a necessary step for global domination.
The book “The China Dream,” written by Colonel Liu Mingfu and quoted by China’s president, spells out China’s ambition. “China’s grand goal in the 21st century is to become the number one power, adding that “[T]he competition between China and the United States will not be like a ‘shooting duel or boxing match’, but more like a ‘track and field competition.’ It will be a protracted Marathon.”
The ancient Chinese strategist Sun Tzu taught that the supreme art of war is “to subdue the enemy without fighting,” a concept that remains central to their current approach. Using this tactic, they have been extremely successful over the last several decades, even stepping up their actions just within the last few years.
There is plenty of evidence for all to see, and even more we don’t. The former includes the life-threatening bioweapon released by the Chinese, spy balloons traversing our nation and territories, illegal weapons being smuggled and military-aged men invading our country, deadly drugs that are killing an average of 400 people per day (and growing). Our inaction only invites more covert CCP actions and probes. The latter is even more insidious, for it involves the very threat of foreign influence that George Washington warned us about.
Be it a desire for personal enrichment, ideological alignment, or a combination of both, powerful American leaders have embedded themselves with the Communist Chinese Party. From the political establishment (e.g. the Biden Crime Family, Sen. Mitch McConnell, Rep. Eric Swalwell, the Clintons, et. al.), to various industries, Hollywood, the scientific community, intelligence agencies, and academia, the CCP has created deeply rooted inroads.
Considering the many unanswered questions concerning the destruction of the iconic Francis Scott Key Bridge, the national symbolism represented by the structure, and the economic damage caused, why was the FBI so quick to deny any foreign actors were involved, even before the victims were pulled from the 47-degree water? Might this represent a single lap in lengthy marathon that only one side admits to running?
Facts, Or First Things First
The Ship
Built in 2015, The DALI is a Singapore-flagged container ship spanning 984’ long and 157’ wide, weighing 95,000 tons when empty. On March 26, 2024, the date of the crash, it was allegedly being operated by a crew of 22 Indian nationals, including two pilots. The DALI is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd, a Singapore-based firm, and operated by Synergy Marine, also based in Singapore. It was time chartered by the Danish shipping company Maersk and bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka. While the ship can carry up to 10,000 containers, it was loaded with about 4,700 containers (weighing an estimated 262,000 tons) at the time of the crash.
The Baltimore Harbor
The Baltimore Harbor consists of twelve private and five public ports that directly employ 15,300 workers, and another 140,000 indirect contractors and subcontractors. The port generates an average of $400 million in taxes annually, which represents significant income for the city, county and state.
It’s the second largest seaport in the Middle Atlantic region and handled about $80 billion in imports and exports in 2023. The private ports alone accounted for a record 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo last year, having an estimated value of $80 billion. The primary import is automobiles, consisting of General Motors, Volkswagen, Jaguar, Nissan, Toyota and Land Rover. Other significant imports include heavy agricultural machinery, fertilizers, salt, sugar, gypsum, and is the sixth largest importer of coffee.
Exports include liquid natural gas, coal (second largest in the U.S.), and refined fuels of various types.
The Bridge
Construction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge began in 1972 and was completed in 1977 at a cost of $60.3 million (1972 dollars). It is part of the I-695 outer-harbor crossing, spanning 1.6 miles over the of 4-lane bridge structure (185 feet vertical clearance, 8.7 miles of approach roadways). According to most recent statistics, 12.3 million vehicles crossed the bridge in 2024.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge was named after Key himself, who wrote our national Star-Spangled Banner from the hull of a ship during the war at Fort McHenry on September 12, 1814. It stands for much historical and patriotic significance.
The Incident
As the vessel was leaving the port, it would have been under the control of the ship’s master with a Chesapeake Bay pilot onboard to advise and assist the master on navigation into open waters. Attempts to verify the names, national origins of the crew and harbor personnel were unsuccessful, with both federal and state authorities refusing to identify those involved. When questioned about the cargo, the vague and abrupt answer of “electronics” was given to this author by a harbor source.
Upon leaving port, the vessel made an unusual circuitous route around the shoreline, turning toward the open waters (and the bridge) a bit later than normal. The following is a “tentative” timeline of the vessel’s departure to the moment of the crash, pieced together by multiple sources.
Tentative Investigative Timeline
• 12:56:00: THE DALI leaves the Seagirt Marine Terminal, traveling on the Patapsco River
• 1:24:00: The ship approaches bridge after arching
• 1:24:33 Complete power failure
• 1:25:31: Lights flicker back on; black smoke starts rising from the ship.
• 1:26:00: DALI issues mayday call to the Maryland Transportation Authority Police channel
• 1:26:37: Lights go dark for a second time
• 1:27:00: Collision with bridge pier; The U.S. Coast Guard receives first report of collision. He ship’s speed was recorded at 8 knots, or 9 mph.
• 1:27:10: Lights flicker back on
• 1:27:53 A Maryland Transportation Authority Police officer calls for traffic to be stopped on both sides of the bridge
• 1:28:48: Roadway begins to collapse
• 1:29:00: Entire roadway completely into the water
• 1:40:00 Baltimore Fire Department dispatched
• 1:50:00: Baltimore Fire Department/rescue arrives on scene
Motive, Means, Opportunity
An unclassified Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency report said that the ship “lost propulsion” as it was leaving port. The crew notified harbor officials that they lost control and alerted them of a possible collision with the bridge. This, however, fails to explain the circuitous route.
Despite alleged mitigation efforts that included dropping an anchor on the port side and reversing thrusters, the vessel turned directly toward the bridge upright. The mitigation factors did not affect the ship’s speed of 9 knots, which is estimated to be the speed upon collision.
Perhaps most disturbing of all mechanical events, it was reported that the ship’s “black box” is missing approximately two minutes – two critical minutes – during the time that would explain the power and propulsion issues, as well as the actions of the crew onboard. While the media has downplayed this matter, it is vital to understand that the redundancy built into the black box would normally preclude this from happening.
Upon further investigation by this author, assisted by logistics expert Joshua Mezzacapo, the black box itself could have the capability of not only remote monitoring, but remote control. Investigation revealed that Synergy Marine Group, which managed the ship, has a strong business relationship with Communist China. Moreover, it specializes in both remote system monitoring and remote system control.
In short, the black box itself could hold the key in terms of remotely controlling the vessel and not merely monitoring it. The missing two minutes could provide the answer to the reasons for the purported blackouts, as well as the odd trajectory of the ship.
As to the motive, one does not have to look much farther than the damage caused to our infrastructure and the economy of the area and our nation. Perhaps we should watch commercial property sales in that area closely to see whether interests tied to the CCP begin to purchase valuable and strategic property at “fire sale” prices.
Lastly, China’s twenty-first-century Maritime Silk Road initiative, that includes control over ports, could play an important role in this incident. Some ports in the U.S. are controlled in part, by Chinese companies tied to the CCP and rerouting cargo might be favorable to their global initiative of controlling key maritime assets.
Whatever the case, it is important to understand that we are engaged in hybrid and asymmetrical war with a very determined enemy. One that has close friends already inside our borders.
HagmannPI.com
