Crew of container ship that collided with Baltimore bridge all Indian: Company

PTI

New York, March 26

The entire 22-member crew of the cargo ship that struck a major bridge in Baltimore early on Tuesday, causing it to snap and plunge into the river, are Indians who alerted authorities about a “power issue” before the collision.

The Singapore-flagged container ship ‘Dali’ collided with one of the pillars of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore at approximately 1.30 am local time.

According to the vessel information provided by the Synergy Marine Group, the crew was “all Indian, 22 in total”.

The ‘Dali’ has a capacity of 10,000 TEU and onboard Units of 4,679 TEU.

Grace Ocean Private Ltd owns the vessel and the ship's movement was outbound from Baltimore to Colombo.

Owners and managers of the Singapore-flagged container ship ‘Dali’ report that the vessel collided with one of the pillars of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Baltimore, whilst under pilotage with two pilots on board, at approximately 1.30 local time on March 26, ship management company Synergy Marine Group said in a statement.

"All crew members, including the two pilots, have been accounted for and there are no reports of any injuries. There has also been no pollution," it said.

Whilst the exact cause of the incident is yet to be determined, the ‘Dali’ has now mobilised its Qualified Individual Incident Response service.

The crew of the cargo ship alerted authorities about a “power issue” before the collision, Maryland Governor Wes Moore said, adding that this Mayday call enabled workers to stop more vehicular traffic from coming onto the bridge.

"We can confirm that the crew notified authorities of a power issue,” Moore told reporters.

Moore was asked whether the crew on the ‘Dali’ ship alerted authorities about losing propulsion and was in trouble.

“Yes”, Moore replied when asked whether the crew had lost power on the ship.

Moore said the ship was coming in “at a very rapid speed”.

The ship lost power and rammed into the bridge, causing the span to buckle into the river below and plunging a construction crew and several vehicles into the dangerously cold waters.

"We do know that the investigation is currently going on. But I have to say I'm thankful for the folks who, once the warning came up and once notification came up that there was a Mayday, who literally by being able to stop cars from coming over the bridge. These people are heroes, they saved lives last night,” he said.

“We are thankful that between the Mayday and the collapse we had officials who were able to begin to stop the flow of traffic so more cars were not up on the bridge,” he said.

Moore added that the preliminary investigation “points to an accident. We haven't seen any credible evidence of a terrorist attack”.

Authorities have said that two people have been rescued and a search is on for six more persons.

The US Coast Guard and local officials have been notified, and the owners and managers are fully cooperating with Federal and State government agencies under an approved plan. 

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