The crew of the container ship that crashed into the Baltimore Bridge five days ago are still trapped aboard the stricken vessel, according to a report.
The Dali crashed Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in the early hours of Tuesday, causing it to collapse into the Patapsco River. Six construction workers working on the bridge were killed.
All 22 crew members of the ship are believed to be safe after the collision, but were unable to leave the ship, according to the New York Times.
They must wait until enough debris is cleared to free the ship and could remain on board for weeks, the newspaper reports.
The ship’s crew was praised for quickly alerting authorities Tuesday that the ship had lost power, leading cars to move away from the bridge and likely preventing more deaths.
The crew, all Indian nationals, are likely continuing to work on maintaining the ship while it remains stranded, the Times said.
The container ship Dali collided with a key bridge in Baltimore on Tuesday. Michael A. McCoy/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Authorities said Saturday that rescue teams worked to lift the first piece of the collapsed bridge from the water using cranes.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said workers were cutting part of the collapsed bridge into smaller sections to make it easier to remove, possibly allowing other vessels to access the site.
Chris James, who works for a consulting firm assisting the ship’s management company, Synergy Marine, said the crew had enough food, water and fuel to run the ship’s generators, according to the Times .
James said that once the National Transportation Safety Board and Coast Guard complete their investigations, “we will consider possibly swapping the crew and bringing them home.”
Those on land have come up with inventive ways to contact crew members who don’t have constant Internet access on board.
Joshua Messick, executive director of the religious nonprofit Baltimore International Seafarers’ Center, told the Times that he sent the crew two Wi-Fi hotspots and wrote a letter to the captain who had been handed over by another ship.
The crew members appear to be doing well, considering the circumstances.
Andrew Middleton, who runs Apostleship of the Sea, a program that caters to sailors transiting through the port, told the Times he had been in regular contact with two crew members on board.
“When I ask them how they are doing, their answers range from ‘good’ to ‘great,'” he said. “So, by their own account, they are doing well.”
The Dali is owned by Grace Ocean, a Singapore-based company, and had been chartered by the Danish shipping company Maersk.
According to Grace Ocean, the ship, which was carrying 4,700 shipping containers, was bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka, when the accident occurred.
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