Demolition crews in Baltimore have set off explosives to push broken pieces of a bridge away from the grounded Dali container ship
A crew of Indian and Sri Lankan men has spent the last 49 days confined to a hulking and motionless cargo vessel in Baltimore, its bow pinned by what’s left of the shattered bridge it struck.
Demolition crews set off explosives Monday to push broken bridge trusses away from the grounded Dali container ship, which lost power and struck one of the columns of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, causing the entire structure to collapse. But even as the ship moves closer to freedom, the crew’s future remains an open question.
The 21 crewmen are still on board. They’ve had their phones seized by investigators. And bodies of the six construction workers who were fixing potholes on the bridge when it collapsed have been pulled from the water around them.
Some worry they’ll be held personally liable for the disaster.
“While some crew members are coping, morale has understandably dipped,” two unions representing the seafarers said in a statement.
Here’s what we know about the Dali’s crew, what they’ve been doing and what their concerns are:
The Rev. Mark Nestlehutt, president and executive director of the New York-based Seamen’s Church Institute, said he and others boarded the Dali about a week after the crash to provide a “compassionate ear” to the crew.
“Everybody was trying to make the best out of a tragic situation,” Nestlehutt said. “At that point, the only real question for the seafarers was when they might be able to go home.
