20 Indians are still stranded on the ship even 50 days after the Baltimore Bridge accident, know the reason

There was a bridge accident in Baltimore, America on March 26 this year. After this accident, the crew of the ship is still stranded there. In the accident, the 2.6-kilometer-long 'Francis Scott Key Bridge' built on the Patapsco River in Baltimore collapsed when a 984-foot-long cargo ship carrying the Singapore flag going to Sri Lanka collided with a pillar of the bridge.

In this terrible accident, six people have passed away. Twenty Indians and one Sri Lankan are among the crew members on the ship. Since the incident, the crew has remained on the same ship and is assisting with the inquiry.

This incident is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States. To try and free the crew members, a section of the bridge has been pulled down. Due to extreme pressure, it was difficult to evacuate the people inside the ship when it became stuck in the debris following the incident. With their families thousands of miles away, officials hope that this will facilitate the crew's reunion. Since the ship is still stuck because of the debris on the bridge, these individuals have remained on board.

Now, a preliminary report from federal investigators released Tuesday says 'The Dali' had suffered two power outages before the disaster. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report also details two blackouts about ten hours before leaving Baltimore.

Please note that due to visa restrictions and investigations by the NTSB and FBI, the crew is unable to disembark from the ship. The crashed cargo ship is named 'The Dali'. Jim Lawrence, spokesperson for Grace Ocean Pvt Ltd, owner of The Dali, recently told IANS that the Indian crew members are on board the ship and in good condition.

"In addition to performing normal duties on board the ship, they are also assisting in the investigation and ongoing rescue operations," Lawrence said.

In April, the FBI began a criminal investigation targeting the ship, with agents boarding The Dalkey as part of the investigation. Rev. Joshua Messick, executive director of the Baltimore International Seafarers Center, told PTI that the crew has been virtually cut off from contact with the outside world as their cell phones have been seized by the FBI as part of the investigation.

Messick told the BBC that the crew were given SIM cards and temporary cell phones without data included. According to a BBC report, they also received care packages from various community groups – which also included Indian breakfast and food.

The NTSB said Dali was just 0.6 miles from the bridge when the electrical breakers that operated most of the ship's instruments and lighting unexpectedly shut off, causing the first blackout. It lost propulsion and steering and started going off course. The crew managed to restore power for a while, but when the cast was only 0.2 miles from the bridge, the lights went out again.

US President Joe Biden promised to rebuild the bridge last month and said a new channel for shipping traffic would open by the end of May.