Current:Home > ScamsAttorneys for Baltimore seek to keep crew members from bridge collapse ship from returning home -AssetLink
Attorneys for Baltimore seek to keep crew members from bridge collapse ship from returning home
View
Date:2025-04-12 08:48:03
Baltimore (AP) — Attorneys are asking a federal judge to prevent crew members on the cargo ship Dali from returning to their home countries amid ongoing investigations into the circumstances leading up to the deadly collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March.
Eight of the Dali’s crew members were scheduled to debark the ship and return home as early as Thursday, according to emails included in court filings Tuesday. The roughly two dozen total seafarers hail from India and Sri Lanka.
That would mark the first time any of them can leave the ship since it lost power and crashed into one of the bridge’s supporting columns shortly after leaving Baltimore on March 26.
In the court filings, attorneys representing the City of Baltimore said the men should remain in the U.S. so they can be deposed in ongoing civil litigation over who should be held responsible for covering costs and damages resulting from the bridge collapse, which killed six construction workers and temporarily halted most maritime traffic through Baltimore’s busy port.
“The crew consists entirely of foreign nationals who, of course, have critical knowledge and information about the events giving rise to this litigation,” attorneys wrote. “If they are permitted to leave the United States, Claimants may never have the opportunity to question or depose them.”
The petition requested an emergency hearing on the matter. No ruling has been issued in response.
Darrell Wilson, a spokesperson for the ship’s owner, said Tuesday evening that some crew members are scheduled to leave.
“A portion of the crew are going home and a portion are remaining here to assist with the investigation,” he said in a text message.
Wilson said he was unable to provide additional details about how many crew members were leaving and when. He also said he wasn’t sure when the ship itself would leave Baltimore for Norfolk, Virginia, where it will receive more extensive repairs.
The hulking container ship remained pinned amid the wreckage of the fallen bridge for almost two months while workers removed thousands and thousands of tons of mangled steel and concrete from the bottom of the Patapsco River at the entrance to Baltimore’s harbor.
The ship’s crew remained onboard even when explosives were detonated to break apart fallen bridge trusses and free the vessel from a massive steel span that landed across its bow.
The ongoing civil litigation began with a petition from the ship’s owner and manager, two Singapore-based companies, seeking to limit their legal liability for the deadly disaster.
A National Transportation Safety Board investigation found the ship experienced two power outages in the hours before it left the Port of Baltimore. In the moments before the bridge collapse, it lost power again and veered off course. The agency’s investigation is still ongoing to determine what exactly caused the electrical issues.
The FBI also launched a criminal investigation.
According to the emails included in Tuesday’s court filings, the eight crew members scheduled to return home have already been interviewed by Department of Justice investigators and that the department doesn’t object to their departure. The crew members will fly out of Baltimore “likely on or about June 20th,” an attorney for the ship’s owner and manager wrote.
veryGood! (7)
Related
- NCAA President Charlie Baker would be 'shocked' if women's tournament revenue units isn't passed
- Embrace the Chaos: Diamondbacks vow to be more aggressive in NLCS Game 3 vs. Phillies
- Michigan Republican charged in false elector plot agrees to cooperation deal
- Marine found killed at Camp Lejeune, another in custody
- Family of explorer who died in the Titan sub implosion seeks $50M-plus in wrongful death lawsuit
- AP PHOTOS: Spectacular Myanmar lake festival resumes after 3 years
- Too much red meat is linked to a 50% increase in type 2 diabetes risk
- Michigan lottery winners: Residents win $100,000 from Powerball and $2 million from scratch-off game
- British swimmer Adam Peaty: There are worms in the food at Paris Olympic Village
- Applications for US jobless benefits fall to lowest level in more than 8 months
Ranking
- Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
- Crypto firms Gemini, DCG sued by New York for allegedly bilking investors of $1.1 billion
- Feds OK natural gas pipeline expansion in Pacific Northwest over environmentalist protests
- Reporter wins support after Nebraska governor dismissed story because the journalist is Chinese
- RFK Jr. closer to getting on New Jersey ballot after judge rules he didn’t violate ‘sore loser’ law
- Toy Hall of Fame: The 'forgotten five' classic toys up for induction and how fans can vote
- Michigan AG dismisses case against 'fake elector' in cooperation deal
- Raiders QB Jimmy Garoppolo ruled out against Bears due to back injury, per reports
Recommendation
Police remove gator from pool in North Carolina town: Watch video of 'arrest'
On ‘Enlisted,’ country star Craig Morgan gets a little help from his friends like Blake Shelton
Federal judge again rules that California’s ban on assault weapons is unconstitutional
AP Week in Pictures: North America
Romantasy reigns on spicy BookTok: Recommendations from the internet’s favorite genre
Tropical Storm Tammy is forecast to bring heavy rain to the Caribbean this weekend
Greg Norman has 'zero' concerns about future of LIV Golf after PGA Tour-Saudi agreement
Ukraine’s parliament advances bill seen as targeting Orthodox church with historic ties to Moscow