Dali Vessel Responsible for Baltimore Bridge Collapse Moved from Crash Site
Nearly two months after crashing into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge and causing the structure to collapse, the Dali container ship has been refloated from the wreckage site back to the city’s port.
According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Dali became buoyant at roughly 6:40 a.m. The damaged ship was slowly moved away from the site of the March 26 disaster, guided by at least five tugboats and other support vessels that took it on a 2.5-mile trip in the Patapsco River back to the Port of Baltimore’s Seagirt Marine Terminal by 8:40 a.m.
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With the merchant vessel moved away from the site of the deadly accident, the Port of Baltimore is another step closer to reopening operations by its end of May target date.
For the port, this would represent a return in cargo to the gateway that has been diverted throughout the East Coast during the two-month stretch. As of May 17, supply chain visibility platform Project44 said the Port of New York took on the highest percentage of rerouted shipments at 55 percent, while the Port of Virginia harbored 22 percent. An extra 9 percent was instead dropped off at New York’s sister gateway, New Jersey’s Port Elizabeth.
The Port of Baltimore is the 15th-largest container port by 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) processed, according to data from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Luckily for apparel companies, the port’s closure has had relatively minimal impact. In the 12 months to Feb. 29, apparel took up less than 4 percent of the containerized freight imported into Baltimore, per analysis from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
A return to operations would mean shippers would no longer have to seek out alternate land transportation methods to bring goods back into the Baltimore area.
Ocean carriers including Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd have already unveiled their intention to return to the port, with Maersk accepting bookings at one service starting June 1 and Hapag-Lloyd opening its first export voyage on May 26.
Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and Zim are the three carriers that were most exposed to the supply chain disruption stemming from the two-month blockade, says S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Three carriers collectively represented nearly three-quarters of Baltimore’s container import traffic. In the year to the end of February, MSC accounted for 31.5 percent; Maersk drove 21.8 percent; and Zim brought in 19.8 percent.
Thus far, four alternative channels to the port have been opened up by the Key Bridge Response Unified Command team in charge of the cleanup and recovery efforts. With the vessel out of the way, Unified Command opened up a 400-foot-wide by 50-foot-deep channel Monday, according to Port of Baltimore director Jonathan Daniels, with the end goal to expand it back to its permanent 700-feet width within two weeks.
The 948-foot container ship will spend several weeks getting temporary repairs at the terminal, which it occupied before the incident. From there, it will move to a shipyard in Norfolk, Va. for more extensive repairs.
The ship’s 21 crew members, most of whom are from India, haven’t been allowed off the vessel since the collapse. The seafarers’ one-month visas expired during the nearly two months they’ve been trapped on board, according to one of the unions representing the crew members.
Shippers looking to secure boxes stuck on the Dali will be required to post bonds to cover the “general average” claims that were declared on the vessel by Singapore-based owner Grace Ocean Private Ltd. Under maritime law, general average allows a vessel owner to force cargo owners to share the financial loss of damages in extreme circumstances where the crew needs to salvage both the ship and its cargo.
Maryland transportation officials estimate rebuilding the bridge could cost $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion. It could take up to four years to construct a new bridge, with completion anticipated in 2028.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are still investigating the accident.
Last week, the NTSB released a preliminary report saying the Dali had a pair of electrical failures minutes before the collision, as well as two blackouts while the ship was in port one day earlier. One of those in-port blackouts was caused by a crew error, the report said.
While the probes remain ongoing, the city of Baltimore remains embroiled in legal action against Grace Ocean and the Dali’s manager Synergy Marine Private Ltd. for what the claimants call negligence in the accident.
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