Crew trapped on ship – seven weeks after Baltimore bridge collapse

21 people from the crew remain on the ship, which is still standing outside the port of Baltimore. 20 of them are Indians while one of them is from Sri Lanka. They have not been able to disembark due to visa restrictions, lack of passports and ongoing investigations, according to BBC.

“Stay below deck”

On Monday, a planned explosion was carried out to “blow away” part of the bridge that was on the ship’s bow. Even then, the crew was still on the ship.

The bridge collapse in Baltimore

The US Coast Guard then told the crew to stay below deck and that firefighters were ready.

Darrel Wilson, a spokesman for the ship’s management company, told the BBC that “the needs of the crew are being met to the best of our ability” and added that Indian food and Indian snacks should have been sent on board.

“A sad situation”

The crew’s cell phones were confiscated by the FBI as part of the investigation, leaving the crew largely out of communication with the outside world, according to Joshua Messick, CEO of the Baltimore International Seafarers’ Center, a nonprofit organization that works to protect seafarers’ rights.

– They simply cannot reach out to the people they need, or even look at pictures of their children before they fall asleep. It’s really a sad situation, he tells the BBC.

Dave Heindel, president of the Seafarers International Union, said that “no matter how long the investigation takes, the rights and welfare of the crew must not be violated.

Six people died

When the ship collided with a bridge pillar, a large part of it collapsed into the water. Road work is said to have been underway at the site and in footage from the site, several stationary vehicles with flashing construction lights appear to fall into the water. Six people lost their lives.

The vessel Dali which caused the collision was a 300 meter long and 48 meter wide freighter. It is registered in Singapore and chartered by the Danish Mærsk, but at the time of the accident is said to have departed from the port of Baltimore bound for Sri Lanka.