On March 26, 2024 at 1:27 a.m. in Baltimore, Maryland a Singapore-owned cargo ship called the Dali collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The unfortunate event was ruled an accident; so when considering this through the lens of astrology, the immediate factor is Mars, the planet of accidents. Mars is also the planet that rules metal, machinery, construction and construction workers – such as ships, metal bridges, and the repair crew working on the bridge.
Making a chart for the time and place already stated, the ‘birth’ chart has Scorpio Ascendant, ruled by Mars. Mars itself is in the 4th House of water and watery places where it is conjunct a strong (Swarashi) Saturn and strong Venus (dig bala).
When Mars and Saturn are together, its a complicated condition. Mars is the ‘green light’ ready to go while Saturn is the ‘red light’ slowing down or stopped. It’s like the gas pedal and brake are engaged at the same time, which almost always brings trouble. In the early morning moment, the ship on its way (Mars) accidentally collided (Mars) into the bridge (Mars) causing serious damage, death, and obstruction (Saturn) that left the ship stuck (Saturn) for several weeks with the crew onboard. Reportedly, the ship had lost power (Mars) and had known issues with propulsion (Mars) and auxiliary machinery (Mars). From what a newsreport stated, the Singapore inspection had know of these issues during the ship’s last inspection there but the US Coast Guard back in September had missed them.
It’s interesting to note (beyond the observance of Mars in the chart) that the Sun was in Pisces at the time. Pisces is a water sign that, when afflicted or weak, can bring issues around drowning. The Sun rules the 10th House of the public and not only was the entire tragic event viewed by millions on the media but the ‘local’ public was impacted by the lives lost and the bridge destruction that caused major traffic issues with commuters and ships alike until the popular bridge is fixed. Sun in Pisces is conjunct Rahu who amplifies things and also represents the public.
Jupiter is the ruler of Pisces and happens to be in Mars-ruled Aries in the 6th House of trouble where Jupiter cojoins Mercury, the planet of communication and trade. Jupiter’s 6th House placement does little to support the Sun but shows that potential problems are likely. Let’s also not forget that Jupiter represents large things and both the cargo ship and the bridge are large!
Is it a coincidence that the ship’s name Dali is the name of a famous artist? Venus rules the arts. Venus is also a watery planet occupying the 4th House which represents water while conjunct two malefics. Moreso, we see Venus ties into this accident by its rulership of the 12th House of foreigners and loss. A company in Singapore owns the ship and the workers who were killed came from Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Eight crew members were working on the bridge at the time. Two survived. Six did not make it. Two of the six bodies were found in a pick-up truck submerged in roughly 25 feet deep water. It took weeks for the remaining four bodies to be recovered.
We cannot dismiss some additional key factors that were going on during or near the time of this incident. We know Mercury in Aries was conjunct Jupiter in the 6th House supporting accidental issues around communication and operational systems. At around 1:30 a.m., Mercury was at zero degrees Aries, the gandanta point where the planet had recently left the water-sign Pisces and entered the fire-sign Aries, a point of high vulnerability. Also, at roughly 1:30 a.m. the previous morning (March 25, 2024) there was a lunar eclipse with Sun in Pisces conjunct Rahu in Pisces. And looking at the Dasha timeline, the chart for the bridge collapse shows Moon/Venus/Saturn (Moon dasha, Venus bhukti, and the third period of Saturn). The Moon had just been eclipsed opposite the Sun, 10th House ruler conjunct Rahu in Pisces while Venus and Saturn occupy the 4th House of water conjunct Ascendant-ruler Mars.
As astrologers and astrology students, we have to wonder what a client might’ve done had we been asked, “Is March 26, 2024 a good day to travel by ship?” With the affliction of Mars and Saturn in the 4th House conjunct Venus the ruler of the 12th House of loss, the answer is “No, it’s not good. Please pick a different time and change your schedule to a more supportive day’. It’s tragic moments like these when the desire for more people to have astrological awareness is at its greatest. Yet, we know that cargo ships are sailing every day. It’s highly probable that other cargo ships, and any other type of ship for that matter, sailed on March 26th with no or little issues. For a complete picture, we would need to see the birth charts of the Dali cargo ship and the eight crew members that were working on the bridge that fateful morning and that of the bridge itself. While it would be nearly impossible to get the birth data for the ship and crew, Wikipedia states that the bridge opened back on March 23, 1977. I invite you to use that date as the ‘birth chart’ for the bridge and see what you analyze between that birth chart and the chart of the collapse. Very interesting.
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Renate Maria Bell is a certified Vedic Astrologer, Jyotish Visharada, and approved teacher with the Council of Vedic Astrology. She can be reached at renatembell@aol.com
Image of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sunrise courtesy wikipedia creative commons; Image of bridge collapse via Google search. Image of chart courtesy Shri Jyoti Star software of which the author is a registered user