Eight Indian crew head home after being stuck for 3 months on ship that hit Baltimore bridge in US

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

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

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

The cargo ship had lost power and crashed into the Baltimore bridge on March 26. 

Notably, 20 of the crew members were Indian nationals, who 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. 

The departure of eight Indian crew members, including a cook, a fitter and seamen follows a deal approved by the judge.   

“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.

(With inputs from PTI)