Dali back at berth in Baltimore

The Dali, the containership that caused the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse on March 26, returned to the port of Baltimore on Monday.

The ship was refloated and moved slowly into port, arriving at 9am. 

The ship will spend several weeks getting temporary repairs at the same marine terminal it occupied before beginning its disastrous voyage, then move to a shipyard in Norfolk for extensive repairs.

Authorities in Baltimore anticipate the operational width of the main shipping channel into the US east coast port will soon be 122 m wide to a depth of 15.24 m. 

“This marks the resumption of commercial vessel transits in and out of the Port of Baltimore,” said the Unified Command overseeing salvage operations yesterday. “This truly signifies the next chapter in restoring the waterway commerce in this region, which also serves as the economic engine for thousands of workers and their families who depend on commerce traveling through the Port of Baltimore.”

The crew onboard the Dali have not been able to leave ship in the nearly two months since the accident, even being forced to stay onboard while explosives were launched last week to remove part of the bridge lodged on the bow of the ship.

The vessel’s manager, Synergy Marine Group, on Friday provided an update on the state of the crew. 

Synergy claimed all crew were in good heath and were “holding up well”. 

The manager outlined what it had been doing to help out for those stuck onboard. For instance, when on April 15 all the crew’s phones were retained by the FBI, replacements were soon after provided. Other examples are close monitoring of their physical and mental welfare, counselling which is available 24/7, regular delivery of pre-prepared Indian food in order to give the cook a rest and the recent embarkation of two additional deck crew to share the increased workload due to the numbers of visitors onboard and allow more downtime.

“We hope that, soon after the Dali is secure at a berth, the authorities will allow [the crew] to disembark so we can arrange to get them home,” Synergy stated in a release.