The Indian crew onboard the cargo ship called Dali that collided with a bridge in Baltimore, are overseeing the ship’s operations and working with authorities.
The New York Times reported that the 22 crew members will remain on the ship, keeping it running till the debris from the damaged ship is cleared. The ship was en route to Sri Lanka with 4,700 containers when it lost power and struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
The Indian government has said that an Indian crew member was briefly hospitalised and hence has since returned to the ship. The process of removing debris is likely to continue for the next few weeks.
The crew according to NYT has enough food, water, and fuel to sustain operations. However there is no definite timeline for the ship extraction. The crew is likely to move only when the investigations have been completed by the ship’s authorities.
The bridge was a main thoroughfare for drivers between New York and Washington with an estimated 31,000 cars crossing the bridge daily.
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US President Joe Biden has said that many lives had been saved with the quick thinking response of the crew. “Personnel on board the ship were able to alert the Maryland transport department that they had lost control of their vessel. As a result, local authorities were able to close the bridge before the bridge was struck, which undoubtedly saved lives.”
Meanwhile, the US government had provided an immediate financial aid of $60 million to the state of Maryland in emergency relief for the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
Two of the construction workers who were on the bridge were rescued. The bodies of four of the six others were still missing. Searchers have recovered the bodies of 35-year-old Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes and 26-year-old Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera.
