Dali, the ship that knocked down Key Bridge, to sail to China later this month, letter says

The Dali was bound for Sri Lanka on March 26, the day it instead struck and knocked over the Francis Scott Key Bridge and, nearly six months later, it will embark on another Asian voyage.

The 984-foot container ship, which is currently receiving repairs in Norfolk, Virginia, will sail directly to China “on or about September 17, 2024″ according to a letter filed by the Department of Justice Wednesday. The letter states that the ship’s owner and manager have informed “claimants” of their intent to sail and that from Thursday through Sept. 14, the claimants will be able to “perform inspections and testing.”

That doesn’t necessarily mean the ship will actually depart by mid-September. Both times the Dali was moved since the disaster — from the middle of the Patapsco River to the Port of Baltimore and then from Baltimore to Norfolk — it departed later than initially expected.

The Dali lost power in the early morning of March 26, toppling the Key Bridge, killing six construction workers and temporarily closing the shipping channel into Baltimore. After explosives were used to cut up a huge piece of bridge sitting atop the vessel, the ship was refloated and towed back to the Port of Baltimore in May. In June, the ship, escorted by four tugboats, made the 23-hour trip to Norfolk, where the ship received extra repairs.

By late August, the ship was nearly unrecognizable as all of its thousands of containers had been removed, according to footage from Norfolk TV station WTKR.

The Dali’s Singaporean owner and manager — Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine, respectively — have sought to limit their liability in the bridge calamity, but claimants, including the City of Baltimore and, more recently, a small propane distributing company, have filed suit against them.

Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine spokesperson Darrell Wilson did not immediately provide comment regarding when the ship would depart Norfolk and why the ship is heading to China. However, shipping experts have long predicted that the damaged ship would ultimately receive its most extensive repairs overseas.

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