In the early morning of March 26, a container ship hit a major commuter bridge in Baltimore, breaking it within seconds, killing six and halting shipping traffic at one of the most important ports on the United States East Coast.
The Singapore-flagged MV Dali and its crew – 20 Indian and a Sri Lankan – have remained in place since.
The 2.6km, four-lane Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco river came crashing down after being struck by the 299m-long ship. Video footage showed nearly all the ship’s lights going off shortly before it rammed into the bridge.
A preliminary report by US federal investigators on Tuesday said the Dali suffered two electricity blackouts in the moments before the disaster. The report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) also detailed two blackouts about 10 hours before it left Baltimore.
On Monday, a part of the bridge was demolished in a bid to free the Dali. But the crew remained on board even as authorities used small explosive charges to deliberately “cut” an expanse of the bridge lying on the ship’s bow.
US Coast Guard Admiral Shannon Gilreath told the BBC the crew remained below deck with a fire crew on hand.
“They’re part of the ship. They are necessary to keep the ship staffed and operational,” he said. “They’re the best responders on board the ship themselves.”
While the ship is likely to be re-floated this week, it remains unclear when it will be able to make the 3.7km journey to the port, reported NDTV.
Authorities – and the crew – hope that the demolition will mark the beginning of the end of a long process that has left the 21 men on board trapped and cut off from the world, thousands of kilometres from their homes.
But for now, it remains unclear when they will be able to reunite with their families.
They have been unable to disembark because of visa restrictions, a lack of required shore passes and parallel ongoing investigations by the NTSB and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Mr Jim Lawrence, a spokesperson for the Dali’s owner Grace Ocean, recently told IANS that the Indian crew members are “in good spirits”.
“In addition to performing normal duties on board the ship, they are also assisting with the investigations and with the ongoing salvage work,” he said.
But, according to Mr Joshua Messick, executive director of the Baltimore International Seafarers’ Centre, a non-profit organisation that works to protect the rights of mariners, the crew has been left largely without communication with the outside world after their mobile phones were confiscated by the FBI as part of the investigation.
“They can’t do any online banking. They can’t pay their bills at home. They don’t have any of their data or anyone’s contact information, so they’re really isolated right now,” Mr Messick said. “They can’t reach out to the folks they need to, or even look at pictures of their children before they go to sleep. It’s really a sad situation.”
The plight of the sailors also attracted the attention of the two unions representing them, the Singapore Maritime Officers’ Union and the Singapore Organisation of Seamen.
In a joint statement on May 11, the unions said that “morale has understandably dipped”, driven by an “unfounded fear of personal criminal liability” and emotional distress.
The statement also called for the “swift return” of the crew’s phones, noting that losing communication with family members is “causing significant hardship for crew members with young children at home”.
Mr Messwick said on Tuesday that, for the time being, the crew has been given SIM cards and temporary mobile phones without data.
They have also received care packages from various community groups and private individuals, which in recent weeks have included batches of Indian snacks and handmade quilts.
Mr Darrel Wilson, a spokesperson for Synergy Marine, the Dali’s Singapore-based management company, told the BBC that the crew is “holding up well” and that company representatives dispatched to Baltimore have been “checking on them constantly, from day one”.
“All their needs are being met to the best of our ability,” Mr Wilson said, adding that shipments of catered Indian food have been sent aboard to allow the cooks to rest. Various religious representatives, including Hindu priests, have been providing services and emotional support to those aboard.
Mr Wilson, however, said he was unable to provide a timeline for the crew to disembark.
