Report: Dali Will Move to Baltimore Berth Next Week for Investigators
The authorities leading the recovery operation in Baltimore have declined comments on the timeline for the next steps including the removal of the Dali only saying that systematic preparations were underway and that they remain on target to open the full channel by the end of the month. The Baltimore Sun newspaper however is reporting that it obtained an email showing the vessel will be moved to the dock on or about Tuesday, May 14, and handed over to investigators.
The Unified Command alerted the media of a tentative plan subject to weather and other conditions for the controlled demolition of the section of the bridge on the bow of the Dali. It is scheduled for Saturday afternoon with teams then prepared to use the giant claws to remove the sections which should fall into the water around the ship. The goal has been to lighten the forward section of the Dali to refloat the vessel.
According to the Baltimore Sun, the vessel will be moved to the Seagirt Marine Terminal in the effort to reopen the channel. William Doyle, chief executive of the Dredging Contractors of America reports dredgers will be standing by in case they need to remove mud to free the Dali.
According to the report in the newspaper, the team from the National Transportation Safety Board is expected to reboard the Dali on May 14 and 15 to continue their investigation. The NTSB has already interviewed the crew and Maryland pilot who was guiding the ship at the time of the allision and has reviewed onboard data. A preliminary report providing an updated statement of the facts is expected to be released in the coming days, possibly shortly after they reboard the vessel.
Charges are set (black stripes) for the controlled demolition scheduled for Saturday afternoon (USCG)
The Baltimore Sun reports that lawyers and investigators involved in the various lawsuits including one from the City of Baltimore have been told they can schedule visits to the ship after the NTSB. The newspaper reports there will be two groups taken aboard with the vessel available starting May 20. They are being warned that the bow areas of the vessel may not be accessible as the recovery operation will still be underway.
It is unclear if the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) plans to return to the ship. They boarded the vessel shortly after the incident seizing information. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier in the week that the FBI is involved in an investigation to see if the crew violated a U.S. law from the 1830s which says a ship’s officer or crew can be charged with manslaughter if their negligence or misconduct led to the death of the six road workers who were on the bridge. The paper says the law was passed after a series of steamboat accidents but was invoked as recently as the 2019 dive boat Conception case where a fire killed 34 people off the coast of California.
The U.S. House of Representative's Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has also scheduled a hearing for May 15 to discuss the federal response to the bridge collapse. They have scheduled witnesses from the U.S. Coast Guard, Army Corps of Engineers, Federal Highway Administration and the NTSB.
With the sections of the bridge removed from the Dali and then the vessel removed from the area, Doyle says dredgers are prepared to complete the task of restoring the channel. Salvage crews will continue to remove the debris from the bridge while this week they recovered the body of the last of the six missing workers from the road crew.
The Port of Baltimore told The Wall Street Journal that it already has requests from about 20 vessels expected at the port in the week following the reopening of the channel. They reported that containerships, car carriers, and bulkers are all scheduling return visits to the port. Two cruise ships that are also scheduled to be sailing from the port are expected to switch back from temporary operations from Norfolk.
Video: Salvors Will Cut Baltimore Bridge Span Into Pieces With Explosives
On Wednesday, the unified command for the salvage of the boxship Dali released the first detailed description of its plan to remove a multi-thousand-tonne bridge truss from the ship's foredeck. Specialists are cutting precise holes in the bridge's girders and packing them with explosive charges, then wrapping the charges with a mat material. When all is ready and the button is pushed, the truss will be cut into a dozen pieces and will collapse into the water, falling safely away from the ship.
When the Dali hit and collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in late March, the bridge's truss, deck and part of a support column came down on the ship's bow - pinning it to the muddy bottom of the channel. Almost all of this debris has been painstakingly cleared away, except for the largest section of the truss, which the team has labeled "section four." An animation released by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Baltimore branch shows how the explosive charges will cut up this final section, without risking salvage personnel or lifting equipment during the removal.
The unified command has previously hinted at a simultaneous cutting method that would free up section four, but only recently confirmed that the team would use explosive charges. The process will be dramatic, but it will not be a Hollywood-grade fireball, the USACE said. The detonations will sound more like a string of fireworks, and there will be no vast bursts of flame. The crew is expected to stay safely aboard the ship throughout the process, a Coast Guard spokesman told local media earlier this week.
While waiting for the refloat operation to be finished, the Captain of the Port for Maryland has reopened the "limited access channel" next to Dali for commercially essential shipping. The waterway reopened Wednesday at 1900 and will remain open until 0600 on Friday. This time, the allowable draft has been increased to 45 feet from the previous restriction of 35 feet. This is nearly back to the normal depth of the federal channel, 50 feet - though the waterway is still much narrower because of the need to navigate around Dali and the truss section. A two-tug escort is required for all traffic. After the channel closes Friday, it will be shut until May 14 to allow salvors to continue their work.
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