Dali cargo ship suffered "severe electrical problem" while docked for 2 days before crash, port worker says

The Dali cargo ship was docked in Baltimore days prior to the crash and was facing a “severe electrical problem,” a port worker told CNN’s UK affiliate, ITN.

Julie Mitchell, co-administrator of Container Royalty, a company that keeps track of the tonnage on container ships that comes into Baltimore, said the ship was in the port for two days.

“And those two days, they were having serious power outages… they had a severe electrical problem,” Mitchell said. “It was total power failure, loss of engine power, everything.”

She said refrigerated boxes kept tripping breakers, while mechanics had generators running while they were trying to fix the ship. CNN is unable to independently verify the information.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Tuesday that the crew of the ship notified officials that it had lost power prior to the crash.

Mitchell said these types of power problems are “not really that common at all,” calling Tuesday’s incident “very rare.”

“They shouldn’t have let the ship leave port until they got it on under control,” she said, adding that she did not know whether the issue was fixed before the ship set sail.

CNN has reached out to the operator of the ship, Synergy Group, for comment.