Sri Lanka To Investigate Hazardous Materials Onboard MV Dali Ship That Caused Baltimore Bridge Collapse

Sri Lanka wasn’t aware of the nature of hazardous materials on the container vessel that crashed into a Baltimore bridge last week. The ship was supposed to declare the contents of containers 72 hours before it arrived at the Colombo Port.

The Singapore-flagged container vessel Dali, primarily crewed by an Indian crew member, collided with the four-lane, 2.6-km-long Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River, which is based in Baltimore, in the early hours of 26 March.

The 984-foot cargo vessel was bound for Sri Lanka’s Colombo. The ship was loaded with 764 tons of hazardous material, per reports from the US media.

Janaka Wakkumbura, the state’s minister of environment, informed Parliament that the Central Environment Authority has yet to receive information about the hazardous cargo.

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He informed that Sri Lanka Customs and the Colombo Port have reportedly been advised to carry out an investigation.

The port officials stated that the vessel was due to reach Colombo on 22 April and that the cargo information would only have been known 48 hours before its arrival.

The relevant officials of the Central Environment Authority mentioned that its approval was a mandate even if unloading in Colombo was restricted to cargo transhipment.

The bridge’s collapse has shut down operations at the port of Baltimore, impacting almost 8,000 jobs and roughly $2 million in daily wages for workers, Pete Buttigieg, the US Transportation Secretary, mentioned last week.

Reference: Deccan Herald

Sri Lanka To Investigate Hazardous Materials Onboard MV Dali Ship That Caused Baltimore Bridge Collapse appeared first on Marine Insight – The Maritime Industry Guide

Source: Maritime Shipping News