Dali Completes Offloading Containers as Salvage Operation Continues

Nearly five months after the fatal allision of the containership Dali with Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, offloading of the vessel has been completed in Norfolk, Virginia. TV station WTKR in Norfolk caught pictures of the vessel in recent days with its decks cleared of containers.

The ship arrived in the Norfolk area on June 25 after a complex overnight move from Baltimore’s Seagirt Terminal largely still loaded with a reported 4,800 containers according to the USCG. The vessel has a full capacity of approximately 10,000 TEUs (standard sized boxes) although vessels generally carry larger double-size boxes. There was also speculation that the 4,800 number was only laden boxes with additional empties likely aboard.

Grace Ocean, the Singapore-registered owner of the Dali declared General Average in April. Cargo owners were required to post security bonds before their cargo and containers were released. Further, since the vessel was bound for Asia, it is likely arrangements were being made to transship the boxes using other vessels to reach their destinations.

The vessel has repositioned several times including moving in July to the Norfolk International Terminal. In August, it was repositioned switching sides alongside the dock. Images from the end of July showed that the offloading was underway.

The ship’s movements are complicated by the fact that it has no working anchors. The machinery on one side was destroyed when the bridge collapsed onto the ship. The other anchor was cut off when the salvage effort removed the ship from the accident site back to the Baltimore terminal. 

Dali offloading at NIT at the end of July (Steve Perry photo)

The USCG reported that the vessel would undergo temporary repairs while in Virginia. It was expected it would eventually depart for the Far East to complete repairs. 

All but four of the crewmembers departed the vessel before it left Baltimore at the end of June. Some were repatriated while others remained in Baltimore as the investigation and legal cases proceeded. A replacement crew took over staffing of the vessel.

No timeline has been reported on when the vessel might depart. It will require additional repairs and recertification by class and the authorities before it is deemed safe to undertake an ocean voyage.