BALTIMORE — After what should have been a 27 day journey to Sri Lanka stretched into 87 days, everyone on board the Dali, the ship that crashed into the Key Bridge, can finally disembark.
Synergy Marine, the Dali's management company, says two training cadets have just been cleared to leave the country, bringing the total number of crew members who are going home to 10.
11 more will stay in Baltimore as the litigation continues, which will likely last until next year, at least. It's unclear if they will have to stay for the entire process, or only until they're deposed by all relevant claimaints.
Four of those 11 will assist with the sailing when the Dali departs from Baltimore for Norfolk, Virginia, tentatively scheduled for Monday afternoon. They will then return to Baltimore, where they'll stay indefinitely.
"They are stressed. They're very stressed," Reverend Joshua Messick, executive director for the Baltimore International Seafarers' Center, told WMAR-2 News' Elizabeth Worthington on Friday.
Messick has been supporting the crew since the beginning. That mostly entailed visits on the ship, where he'd bring snacks, activities, and sometimes just small talk. Now, his organization will also provide transportation for the crew.
Synergy is putting them up in hotels, and will continue to pay their salaries.
"They're going to be stuck here with nothing to do. They're frustrated that they're not working; it's so tedious right now. So we'll be providing distractions, essentially, from all of the litigation," Messick said.
Earlier this week, attorneys for the City of Baltimore tried to fight the cleared crew members' departure, saying it would jeopardize their ability to question or depose them as part of the city's lawsuit. That was settled after the Dali crew's legal team agreed to respond to subpoenas and produce witnesses within 30 days of the city's request. Those depositions are expected to take place in London.
Now, Synergy is working to get those 10 men, which include a cook and an oiler, on a plane back home to India and Sri Lanka.
"So it's people that would have had nothing to do with operations on board, or people whose function is not necessarily lend itself to the investigation," Messick told WMAR-2 News.
The higher-ranking members including the captain will stay in Baltimore, waiting for lawyers to question them. That might not happen until the city's team gathers all the facts and evidence from the full NTSB report and the FBI investigation. The NTSB's investigation is expected to take anywhere from 12-18 months, Chair Jennifer Homendy announced a few weeks after the collapse.
It's unclear how immigration officials are handling the 11 crew members disembarking on American soil, and remaining here for an extended period of time.
"Typically, to get off a vessel, a crew member needs to have a U.S. visa with the appropriate designations on it and a shore pass. Both of those things need to be current,” Messick said.
At least some of the Dali crew had shore passes when they arrived in Baltimore in March, as the Apostleship of the Sea executive director Andrew Middleton took some of them out shopping before their departure. Shore passes expire after 29 days, and to get them renewed, you need to sail into international waters again. So all of the requests to renew their passes were denied, Rev. Messick tells us.
Customs & Border Protection might have secured temporary parole for the 11 crew members who are disembarking and staying in Baltimore; we reached out to CBP and asked if that was the case. We are waiting to hear back.
D.C. based maritime attorney Allen Black explained the parole process to WMAR-2 News in an interview earlier this week: “And that’s a special process through the immigration service where they say, ‘ok you don’t have a valid visa for this period of time but we’ll let you stay in.’ They’ll do that when there’s an incident or criminal case involving a crew member, and sometimes those crew members will stay here for months, or even a year under a parole situation. But the immigration service does not like to exercise that authority lightly, and so they’re not going to do it if they don’t have to.”
Over the next several months, and potentially more, Rev. Messick and his team will have their hands full. They could use all the help they can get, whether it's donations or volunteer drivers.
"It's difficult because we are paying particular attention to this crew because they have particular needs. At the same time, work doesn't stop in the Port of Baltimore. We have ships coming in every day and seafarers that still need us. We're certainly stretched thin."
You can contact the center here.
The crew was provided with new phones after the FBI confiscated theirs as part of the investigation, so they have access to all of the news stories and subsequent commentary about them.
"They’ve been well-prepared for that. They have been briefed by the company, by their attorneys. Everyone involved has said, you know it’s gonna be hateful out there, you don’t have to take it all to heart," Messick said, adding he's been disheartened by those who continue to suggest this was an intentional act.
"It’s so frustrating; it’s demeaning, demoralizing. It’s not fair; it’s really not fair. These are human beings who did the best they could in an incredibly difficult situation, and I think they deserve a little more respect."
