Baltimore Bridge Collapse: Indian Crew Still Stuck On Ship

Its been nearly two months since the Baltimore bridge collapsed. Unfortunately, the crew members of the cargo vessel Dali smashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge are still stuck on the ship. The crew find it unable to deboard the ship due to visa restrictions and investigations by the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) and FBI.

It is normal for the crew members on the damaged ships to remain on the ship to ensure that the vessel do not pose further threats. The crew members including 20 Indians and 1 Sri Lankan are reportedly working to maintain the ship on schedule, much like they would be doing if the ship is out at the sea. As they keep the ship operable, they are also answering hoards of questions from officials who are investigating the catastrophe.

The Singapore-flagged container ship Dali hit Baltimore”s major commuter bridge on March 6. Six people were killed and shipping at one of the most important ports on the US East coast also halted. Video footages showed nearly all the ship”s lights going off shortly before collapsing with the bridge. The ship was headed to Sri Lanka and has about 4,700 containers and, 1.5 million gallons of fuel and lubricant oil on board.

Reasons why the ship has collapsed still remain unknown. The NTSB reported about the two electrical blackouts in hours before the ship left the port. One of the US Coast Guard also pointed that the inability to remove the ship from the site is causing a continuing vulnerability in the nation”s infrastructure, as the much larger ships that are now navigating the US ports have raised concern over the risk of much higher collisions, as reported by BBC.

The wreckages of the ship from the collapse remains in the water. On Monday, small explosives were used to remove wreckages on top of the ships. The explosives were placed around the wreckage that was draped around the bow of the ship. The ship will be brought back to the port when wreckages on its top is cleared.