US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stated last week that the bridge collapse had essentially closed down operations at Baltimore's port, impacting around 8,000 employment and over USD 2 million in daily compensation for those workers. Before the bridge collapsed, the port handled daily trade valued between USD 100 million and USD 200 million, according to Buttigieg, and it was the busiest port in America for handling imports of vehicles.
New York, April 2 (PTI)—The company that owns the damaged container vessel, which collided with a major Baltimore bridge last week, has stated that its crew, which consists of 20 Indians and one Sri Lankan, is “busy with their normal duties” and will stay on board until the accident investigation is finished.
Early on March 26, the container ship Dali struck the four-lane, 2.6-kilometer Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore that spans the Patapsco River. The cargo ship, measuring 984 feet, was headed for Colombo, Sri Lanka.
According to US media accounts, the ship had a complete blackout shortly before hitting with the bridge, suggesting that it had lost electrical and engine power.
Debris from the bridge has been chopped into smaller pieces by those working on the cleanup so it can be removed and dumped somewhere.
“The number of crew members on board is verified to be 21. A representative for Grace Ocean Pte and Synergy Marine told PTI, “The crew members are occupied with their regular responsibilities on the ship in addition to supporting the Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board investigators on board.”
“At this time, we do not know how long the investigation process will take and until that process is complete, the crew will remain on board,” the representative stated when asked how long the crew would have to stay on board the ship.
The Synergy Marine Group is in charge of managing the Grace Ocean Pte Ltd-owned, Singapore-flagged Dali. The Indian crew on the cargo ship was described as “healthy” earlier by the nonprofit Baltimore International Seafarers’ Center.
There were 20 Indians on board Dali, according to the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi, and the Indian embassy in Washington was in regular contact with both the local government and the Indians.
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US police started questioning Dali’s crew last week. As part of their inquiry, the NTSB boarded the ship on Wednesday, according to a statement from Synergy Group, and gathered papers, voyage data recorder extracts, and other evidence.
All crew members and the two pilots on board the ship are safe, according to confirmation from Grace Ocean and Synergy. However, they stated that one crew member had suffered a minor injury and had since received treatment and been released from the hospital.
Presumably deceased are six individuals who were working on a bridge repair project when the crash happened. Two of the construction workers’ bodies were retrieved by divers from a red pickup vehicle that was discovered submerged in a river, while the other four victims were still being looked for.
According to US President Joe Biden, the crew of the Dali had notified transportation officials that they were losing control of the ship, which allowed authorities to block the Baltimore bridge to traffic prior to the catastrophic disaster and “undoubtedly” save lives.
In the meantime, officials in the US city of Baltimore announced the opening of a temporary ship route in the wake of the collapse.
