The crew of the containership DALI will be departing for home after Twelve weeks after the infamous Baltimore Bridge accident. On Thursday, a deal was signed off by Judge James Bredar, which allowed the first batch of crew change onboard DALI. The lawyers of the City of Baltimore and other claimants who have filed a lawsuit against the operators and owners of DALI have also agreed to the same.
Among the seafarers onboard DALI who have received clearance for signoff from the vessel are a cook, a fitter, an oiler, a general steward, an ordinary seaman, and three able-body seaman. The court order permitted them to leave on Thursday, 20 June, whereas the US Coast Guard informed that the vessel might also depart Baltimore as early as next week with its new crew onboard.
The earlier news reported that lawyers had initially blocked the proposal for crew change as they found the notice period of two days insufficient to arrive at a decision. The lawyers feared that once the crew departed for home, information discovery could become difficult during the investigation.
The deal for crew change was only agreed upon after the lawyers of operators Synergy Marine and owner Grace Ocean promised the appearance of departing eight crew members during the deposition stage of the case.
The departing crew members have also agreed to appear during the case deposition, which is likely to happen sometime after November 2024
The International Seafarers Centre has said that the travel arrangements for eight crew members, Indian and Sri Lankan nationals, have been made. Speaking to a local daily, The Baltimore Sun, Coast Guard Cmdr. Baxter Smoak said that the vessel will leave for NORFOLK, Virginia, but the movement will be highly choreographed.
He explained that DALI doesn’t have any working anchor, so anchoring at Cape Henry will not be possible for DALI. The plan suggests that DALI will be moving directly to a terminal, and four tugs, along with three other support vessels of the Coast Guard, will be guiding the containership all along the 16-20 hours journey.
Darrell Wilson, spokesperson for Ship owner Grace Ocean, said that after the initial patchwork at NORFOLK, the vessel would be moved to another shipyard for extensive repair. In the bridge crash accident, the bow of the vessel was severely damaged, one of the anchors was crushed while the salvage team cut off the other.
It is noteworthy the crew of 20 Indians and a Sri Lankan of the container vessel that collided with a key Baltimore bridgeis “busy with their normal duties” and remained on board until the investigation into the accident is completed.
