The collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge rests on the container ship Dali on May 12, 2024, in Baltimore, as seen from Riviera Beach, Md.
| Photo Credit: AP

Eight Indian crew members of the cargo ship ‘Dali’ that crashed into a bridge in Baltimore in March left for India on June 21 after nearly three months on the mammoth vessel.

According to Baltimore Maritime Exchange, four of the 21 crew members are still on board the 984-foot cargo ship MV Dali, which is tentatively scheduled to leave Friday evening for Norfolk, Virginia.

Also read | The Baltimore ship accident, the high stakes for India

The rest of the crew has been moved to a service apartment in Baltimore and will remain there pending an investigation.

Notably, 20 of the crew members were Indian nationals. They were on board the MV Dali Cargo, which struck the pillars of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge resulting in its collapse and the death of six construction workers in the tragic incident.

Dali will undergo repair at Norfolk.

The departure of eight Indian crew members including a cook, a fitter and seamen follows a deal approved by the judge. None of these are officers. The rest 13 would remain in the US, mainly because of the pending investigations.

“They’re anxious, under considerable stress considering they don’t know the future. They don’t know when they’ll see their family again or how they’ll be treated here,” Rev. Joshua Messick, director of the Baltimore International Seafarers’ Center and chaplain for the Port of Baltimore told CNN.

None of the crew members have been charged in connection with the disaster. FBI and other federal agencies are conducting the investigations.

The 2.6km-long, four-lane Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River in Baltimore, came crashing down after Dali collided against it on March 26.

The vessel is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd and was outbound from Baltimore to Colombo and has a capacity of 10,000 TEU, with onboard units totalling 4,679 TEU. The vessel’s deadweight is 116,851 DWT.

Washington:

A stranded cargo ship that has been blocking one of America’s busiest ports will be removed Monday nearly two months after it struck and destroyed a bridge in Baltimore, authorities said over the weekend.

The complex operation would see the nearly 1,000-foot (300-meter) Dali container vessel transported to a marine terminal, marking a major step in reopening the key shipping channel.

The Singapore-flagged ship lost power before it plowed into a support column of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, causing it to collapse and killing six construction workers who had been atop the major transit route.

The accident shut down the port, though temporary channels have allowed some traffic in and out of Baltimore.

Authorities leading the salvage operation said the Dali would be prepared for refloating from midday (1600 GMT) Sunday ahead of being moved at high tide on Monday, forecast for 5:24 am.

Divers will first inspect the ship to ensure there are no obstructions after demolition experts last week used explosives to remove parts of the collapsed steel bridge trapping the Dali, which still has its 21-man crew onboard.

Salvagers will then draw out up to 1.25 million gallons (4.7 million liters) of water previously pumped into the Dali to stabilize it as ballast, before releasing its anchors and mooring lines.

Tugboats will transport the Dali at around 1 mile per hour (1.6 kilometers per hour) to a nearby marine terminal, with the journey expected to take three hours.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore told NBC News on Sunday he was “proud that we’re on track and by the end of May we’ll have that federal channel reopened.”

Authorities have been working around the clock to clear the fallen bridge and reopen the waterway after it was rendered impassable due to the sprawling wreckage.

The port is a key hub for the auto industry, handling almost 850,000 autos and light trucks last year — more than any other US port, according to state figures.

In April the FBI launched a criminal probe into the incident, with its agents boarding the Dali as part of the investigation.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which is also investigating, said on Tuesday the ship had two electricity blackouts in the moments before the disaster.

It also said the crew had been tested multiple times, before and after the disaster, for drugs and alcohol, and that none had showed.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)