Containership mv Dali – Adjuster Richards Hogg Lindley
17 April, 2024
A Singapore-flagged vessel built by a South Korean shipbuilder and staffed with an Indian crew, carrying cargo for both a Danish and a Swiss company, crashed into a bridge in American waters that connected Baltimore City to the rest of Maryland and the mid-Atlantic.
That Swiss organization, Mediterranean Shipping Co., shared in a news release a letter that the ship’s owner sent to Maersk. In it, a Grace Ocean executive wrote that “in the course of laden voyage, the vessel contacted Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, USA. As a result of this, ship and cargo were in a position of peril and required salvage services to free the vessel from the collapsed bridge and bring her to a place of common safety.”
“As a consequence of the above,” the letter continued, “shipowners hereby declare General Average.”
In such cases, a general average adjuster is selected by the ship’s owner to determine how much each cargo owner would be responsible for paying. Grace Ocean appointed London-based Richards Hogg Lindley.
[April 15 2024 collides with Baltimore bridge ]
Al arms went off on the ship’s refrigerated containers while it was still docked in Baltimore, likely indicating an inconsistent power supply.
[April 2 2024 ]
Grace Ocean, the vessel’s owner, and Synergy Marine, the operations manager, are seeking to cap their liability at about $43.7 million — the value of the ship after the disaster, according to a court petition the companies filed on Monday in Maryland. The Singapore-based companies valued the 95,000-metric ton Dali at up to $90 million, pre-bridge collision.
If the limitation is granted, the companies may be able to save significant money on the forthcoming claims.
The companies would have to establish that they were not at fault for the incident and that they had no knowledge of negligence or other conditions that led to the disaster in this case.
The limitation act “is regularly invoked, but much less often successful,”
[March 31 2024 after tugs released ]
Two tugboats, the Eric McAllister and the Bridget McAllister, guided the massive vessel out of the tight spaces of the dock and then released when the ship was safely in the channel.With the 95,000-ton cargo ship Dali powerless and hurtling helplessly toward the Francis Scott Key Bridge, the harbor pilot commanding the vessel had just minutes to make his last, desperate attempts to avoid disaster. He declared distress, dropped anchor and, notably, called for help from nearby tugboats.
Two 5,000-horsepower tugs, which only minutes earlier had helped guide the ship out of its berth at the Port of Baltimore and peeled off, quickly turned back and raced toward the Dali. But it was too late. Powered by two, Tier III compliant, Caterpillar 3516CHD diesel engines. tug Eric McAllister was the second Tier III compliant tug in McAllister Towing’s fleet. With Lufkin gearboxes, turning two, Schottel SRP1215 z-drives for a rated 5,150 horsepower
Pilots move ships in and out of the Port of Baltimore,’ Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said at a press conference, noting that the specialist pilots depart the ships as soon as they are in open water.
The ship issued a mayday call moments before the crash. The ship’s lights went out twice before the collision, indicating possible issues in the engine room.
The ship owner appears to be Grace Ocean Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based company owned by the Abe family of Japan, who is also behind Japanese tonnage provider Nissen Kaiun. A wealthy political family that included Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, a foreign minister and a premier and the late Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi,.
Tue Mar 26
On March 26, 2024, at around 1.30 a.m. LT, the ‘Dali’, which had left the port of Baltimore at 12.45 a.m. en route to Colombo, after which, according to Maersk’s sailing plans, it should have continued on to Malaysia and then China, allided with a pillar of the Francis-Scott-Key-Bridge short time after leaving Baltimore, Maryland, in Chesapeake Bay in pos. 39° 13.00′ N 076° 31.78′ W. At 01:24:32 a.m. LT the ship initially lost power and adjusted its course for around 60 seconds. Just over a minute later the ship starts producing black smoke. The lights went out for a second time around two minutes before it hits the bridge at 01:28:44 a.m. Four seconds later the bridge collapsed into the Patacspo River. The ship reportedly had two pilots on board.
Multiple vehicles were on the bridge at the time of the crash as well as 20 construction workers, who have fallen into the river. Many people were feared dead with over a dozen vehicles and many individuals said to be in the water. Large contingents of rescue forces rushed to the site and started searching for the victims. As cargo or retainers were hanging from the bridge, creating unsafe and unstable conditions, the emergency responders were operating cautiously as a result. All traffic was being detoured by the Maryland Transportation Authority (MTA). The 2.5km-four-lane bridge serves as the outermost crossing of the Baltimore harbour and an essential link of Interstate-695, or the Baltimore Beltway.
Ships on scene were the ‘Timothy McAllister’ (IMO: 8997895), ‘Bridgetr McAllister’ (IMO: 9369215), ‘Eric McAllister’ (IMO: 9707493), ‘Crystal Coast’ (MMSI: 367097970), ‘Marine 1’ (MMSI: 338307745), ‘Treasure Coast’ (IMO: 9448267), ‘Sun Coast’ (IMO: 8994453), the ‘Baltco County Fire 268’ (MMSI: 338087452), CG ‘Mako’ (MMSI: 366999602)#, ‘Bcofd Mu269’ (MMSI: 338395157) a.o. Also divers were involved in the response. Coast Guard units on scene included small boats from the Stations Annapolis and Curtis Bay and a helicopter from the Air Station Atlantic City. Multiple state and local agencies were assisting too. The current water temperature in Baltimore Harbour was between 9-10C. The Maryland Governor Wes Moore has declared a state of emergency. Sonar has detected the presence of vehicles submerged in the water. Two people have been rescued from the river, one was uninjured, and another was hospitalized in a very serious condition.
The shipping company Synergy Marine Group confirmed that nobody on board the ‘Dali’ was injured, and that all crew were present and accounted for. No company crew and personnel of Maersk were onboard the vessel, which is operated by the charter vessel company Synergy Group. Whilst the exact cause of the incident is yet to be determined, the ‘Dali’ has now mobilised its Qualified Individual Incident response service. The FBI launched an investigation.
Hue and Cri 