Dali ship back at sea months after colliding with Baltimore's Key Bridge

Todd Karpovich, The Baltimore Sun on Jan 23, 2025

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BALTIMORE — About 10 months after colliding with Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, the Dali container ship is back in business.

The vessel underwent temporary repairs in Norfolk and then had extensive repairs, sea trials, validation and recertification in China. Now, the Dali has resumed service under the management of Synergy Marine Group, the Singapore-based company announced Tuesday.

The 984-foot Dali lost power before striking the Key Bridge and sending it plunging into the Patapsco River on March 26. Six highway construction workers were killed.

According to the latest report Jan. 16 on VesselFinder, the Dali was then travelling to the port of Ningbo, China, with an expected arrival of this past Wednesday. The ship was sailing under the flag of Singapore.

“The incident in Baltimore captured worldwide attention and highlighted the challenges and complexities of global shipping, and in its immediate aftermath we reaffirmed our continuing commitment to upholding the highest standards of maritime safety and operational excellence,” Synergy officials said on a social media post. “The [Dali’s] return to service is a testament to the exceptional teamwork of our dedicated professionals ashore and at sea, as well as to the trust placed in us by the vessel’s principals.”

Shortly after leaving the Port of Baltimore for a monthslong voyage to Sri Lanka, the Dali, which weighed more than 112,000 tons loaded with freight, experienced a reported power outage near the bridge and smashed into one of its principal supporting piers around 1:30 a.m. The bridge crumbled in an instant, sending a crew of workers, who were repairing potholes on Interstate 695, tumbling into the frigid river below.

Officials have pledged to hold those behind the ship accountable for the crash, depending on what an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board turns up. That independent federal agency is probing everything from what went wrong aboard the Dali — and looking at its past — to the bridge’s “fracture critical” design.

In April, the companies that own and manage the Dali asked a federal judge to absolve them of liability for the cargo ship’s crash. Grace Ocean Private Ltd., the Singapore-based owner, and Synergy Marine Pte Ltd. together filed the claim in Baltimore’s U.S. District Court asking to be cleared from liability or limit damages to the value of the ship plus the revenue it stood to make from its cargo, which they estimated at $43.7 million.

That case is still pending, according to court documents.

The replacement bridge is expected to be completed by October 2028 and will cost between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion, according to state officials. Congress has approved full funding for the project.

Construction crews on barges, drills, cranes, tugs and service vessels have begun drilling to collect soil samples and map subsurface waterways around the Key Bridge. Officials with the Maryland Transportation Authority said noise impacts and traffic disruptions will be minimal and will not significantly impact navigation on the Patapsco River.

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