Baltimore officials and ship manager Synergy Marine have reached a deal to allow some crew members from a vessel that slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge to go home.
Documents filed with the US District Court for the District of Maryland show that lawyers for the city withdrew a request to prevent all seafarers on the 9,962-teu container ship Dali (built 2015) from leaving the US so that they can provide evidence.
“Counsel for all current claimants met and conferred and approached counsel for the vessel interests with a compromise proposal to resolve the dispute and avoid the intervention of the court,” the city’s lawyers wrote.
“With this agreement in place, the City of Baltimore is satisfied that the parties no longer require the court’s intervention to resolve the dispute.”
William Bennett, the Blank Rome lawyer representing Singapore-based Synergy Marine and Dali owner Grace Ocean, said in an email included in court documents that the US Coast Guard is allowing several crew members to fly home.
The list includes two able-bodied seamen, an ordinary seaman, an oiler, a fitter, a cook and a general steward.
Darrell Wilson, a spokesman for Synergy, said eight crew members have been permitted to leave, while 13 will remain to assist the investigation.
The US Justice Department, which is reported to be conducting a criminal investigation into the ship’s collision with the bridge, has interviewed the crew members who are slated to depart and does not object to their departure, Bennett wrote.
He said US officials have denied them permission to stay briefly from the US, and they will be transported directly to the airport.
Court records show the Dali was expected to leave Baltimore as early as today (Thursday), but vessel tracking data shows it remains at the city’s port.
