News / Baltimore update: the blame game begins as salvage gets under way

Photo: US Coast Guard, Petty Officer 2nd Class Taylor Bacon

As salvors begin their work in earnest, Singapore-based Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine, owner and manager respectively of the 10,000 teu Dali, are denying responsibility for the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

The bridge collapsed last Tuesday after being struck by the 2015-built containership as it was departing Baltimore’s Seagirt terminal.

In a petition to the US district courts of Maryland yesterday, the companies, represented by law firms Duane Morris and Blank Rome, respectively, said: “The casualty was not due to any fault, neglect or want of care on the part of petitioners, the vessel, or any persons or entities for whose acts petitioners may be responsible.

“Alternatively, if any such faults caused or contributed to the casualty, or to any loss or damage arising out of the casualty, which is denied, such faults were occasioned and occurred without petitioners’ privity or knowledge.”

The court documents also provided some details about the moments leading to the disaster, which led to the loss of several lives.

According to the documents, Dali entered the shipping channel around 1.08am local time, heading Colombo, Sri Lanka, carrying 4,679 containers, with Yantian, China, its ultimate destination.

“Approximately seven to ten minutes later, the vessel experienced a loss of power and propulsion in the shipping channel. The vessel made efforts to regain power, which occurred briefly, but power was lost a second time shortly thereafter. The vessel drifted to starboard, then dropped anchor in response to the loss of power and propulsion.”

Dali struck the bridge around 1.28am.

Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine said efforts to salvage were under way with costs estimated at $19m, with repair costs estimated at $28m.

Grace Ocean – which The Loadstar understands is owned by Japan’s Abe family – and Synergy Marine requested that any damages be capped at $43.67m, a calculation based on a $42.5m valuation of Dali and outstanding freight payments of $1.17m. While the ship had a market value of $90m at the end of its previous voyage, the estimated repair and salvage costs are deducted.

Brandon Fried, executive director of the US Airforwarders Association, said federal and Maryland authorities should be held accountable, due to the “long-term lack of infrastructure investment”.

Mr Fried said: “As we grapple with the immediate repercussions, it’s imperative that we also reflect on the systemic failures that contributed to this avoidable catastrophe and confront the glaring lack of preventive measures that could have averted this disaster.”

Meanwhile, with Baltimore port virtually inaccessible, Maersk Line said yesterday was planning substitute services through the east coast of North America.

Although Baltimore port’s captain said a temporary channel would be opened, its depth of 11 metres is too shallow for many containerships.

Alex Cherin, formerly MD (trade) at Port of Long Beach, suggested that ports on the US west and Gulf costs could see more cargo. He said: “The deep water, rail connectivity and warehousing capabilities of US west coast and US Gulf ports are poised to emerge as attractive alternatives, as capacity constraints plague other east coast ports or hinder handling specialised cargo, such as automobiles.”

However, a Linerlytica report today suggests Baltimore port’s closure will not have a dramatic impact on supply chains. Last year, Baltimore handled 1.12m teu of containers, just under 5% of all boxes processed at US east coast ports.

The report notes: “There’s sufficient container handling capacity at the neighbouring ports of Norfolk and New York, where the cargo affected by the Baltimore port closure is currently being diverted.”

According to supply chain visibility platform FourKites, there are 92 vessels and more than 2,000 loads with current or upcoming voyages into or out of the port of Baltimore.

It claimed around 600 of those had already been rerouted: Savannah taking 264 loads; Norfolk, 181; New York, 70; Port Everglades, 60; Newark, 39; Boston, six; and Santos, six. That leaves around 1,400 shipments that still need to be rerouted from Baltimore.

According to the BBC, the 21, mostly Indian, crew members remain stranded onboard Dali. All are reportedly well, one had to have stitches in a small wound, but apparently there are no plans for them to disembark until investigations are complete.