The container ship that crashed in March into a Baltimore bridge, killing six construction workers, arrived Tuesday in Hampton Roads.
The 984-foot Dali crossed the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel and entered Norfolk waters around 5 a.m. The ship was escorted by the U.S. Coast Guard as it entered the Elizabeth River — the Coast Guard Cutter Sailfish, an 87-foot patrol boat, provided a 500-yard safety zone around the Dali, according to a Coast Guard news release. Coast Guard watchstanders also monitored the ship’s progress.
The ship is currently at Virginia International Gateway in Portsmouth, where crews are unloading containers to reduce draft, according to the Coast Guard. It will then head to Norfolk International Terminals in Norfolk for more repairs and salvage.
A third-party contractor will perform those repairs at Norfolk International Terminals, said Joe Harris, Virginia Port Authority spokesperson. He did not know the extent of repairs that would be performed there, however.
The ship’s manager, Synergy Marine, did not respond for a request for comment.
But Darrell Wilson, a spokesman for the ship’s owner — Singapore-based Grace Ocean Private Ltd. — told the Baltimore Sun this week that after the ship is patched up in Norfolk, it will head to another shipyard for more extensive repairs. That shipyard is yet to be determined, the Sun reported.
The Coast Guard’s 5th District Public Affairs Office in Portsmouth declined to answer questions beyond a news release on Tuesday and did not return an email asking where such repair work might be performed.
The Coast Guard said the cargo ship is sailing under a 22-person crew and six salvage experts from Resolve Marine.
The Dali departed from Baltimore just before 8:30 a.m. Monday.
The Dali had been in Baltimore since it lost power in the early hours of March 26, colliding with the Francis Scott Key Bridge and collapsing the structure into the Patapsco River. Debris from the disaster blocked Baltimore’s shipping channel for more than two months.
Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com
