MV Dali

MV Dali is a Neopanamax container ship built in 2015 by Hyundai Heavy Industries, South Korea.

On 26 March 2024, while operated by Synergy Marine of Singapore, the ship collided with and destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland.

Description
Dali is a Neopanamax container ship with a length of 299.92 m, beam of 48.2 m, moulded depth of 24.8 m, and summer draft of 15.03 m. Her gross and net tonnages are 91,128 and 52,150, respectively, and her deadweight tonnage is 116,851tonnes. Her container capacity is 9,971 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU).

Dali is propelled by a single low-speed two-stroke crosshead diesel engine coupled to a fixed-pitch propeller. Her main engine, a 9-cylinder MAN-B&W 9S90ME-C9.2 unit manufactured by Hyundai Heavy Industries under license, is rated 41480 kW at 82.5rpm. Her service speed is 22 kn. For maneuvering, Dali has a single 3000 kW bow thruster. Electricity is generated onboard by two 3840 kW and two 4400 kW auxiliary diesel generators.

Construction
On 14 May 2013, Hyundai Heavy Industries was contracted to build two container ships based on the "Hyundai 9000 wide beam" design that was modified by moving the wheelhouse from three-quarters aft to a more forward position to increase the container capacity from 9,034 to 9,962 TEU. A further two similar ships were ordered for CMA CGM and four for Maersk later in 2013.

The construction began in Ulsan, South Korea, in July 2014 and the hull with the yard number 2678 was laid down on 10 October 2014 and launched on 27 December of the same year. On 5 January 2015, Dali and her sister ship Cezanne were named for painters Salvador Dalí and Paul Cézanne.

Service
Dali was delivered to Stellar Marine LLC, a subsidiary of the Greek shipowner Oceanbulk Maritime SA, on 5 March 2015 and registered in Majuro, Marshall Islands. In October 2016, she was sold to Grace Ocean Pte. Ltd. and placed under the management of Synergy Marine Pte. Ltd., both based in Singapore where the ship was also reflagged. The ship has been chartered to the Danish shipping and logistics company Maersk since it was delivered in 2015.

While in the port of San Antonio, Chile, in June 2023, port state control inspection revealed a single deficiency related to "gauges, thermometers etc." in the ship's machinery, subsequently clarified as a monitor gauge for fuel pressure which was rectified prior to departure. The ship was not detained, and at the follow-up inspection in the United States, three months later, no problems were identified.

Port of Antwerp 2016
On 11 July 2016, Dali collided (in maritime terms, allided) with the berth at the container terminal in the Port of Antwerp, Belgium, causing significant damage to her stern and transom. The berth was also damaged and closed for cargo handling operations. No injuries or water pollution were reported.

Francis Scott Key Bridge 2024
On 26 March 2024, Dali departed the Port of Baltimore in the United States, carrying a total load of nearly 4,700 containers and bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka, while under charter to Maersk, with a crew of 22 and two pilots. Shortly after leaving the port, the ship lost power, but was able to broadcast a mayday call. Soon afterwards, she collided with a support pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing a major part of the bridge to collapse, with one span falling onto the ship's forecastle. None of the 24 on board were seriously injured. All moving traffic had left the bridge, but six construction workers died. The National Transportation Safety Board is conducting the investigation and interviewing the crew.

Grace Ocean Private and Synergy Marine Group filed a joint petition on 1 April in the Maryland U.S. District Court to limit their liability to about $43.6million under the Limitation of Liability Act of 1851. Chief judge James K. Bredar is overseeing the proceedings. On 17 April, Grace Ocean Private filed a general average declaration to require cargo owners to cover part of the salvage costs.

On 23 April, the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore filed papers, in the Northern District of Maryland, seeking a jury trial within the district, to obtain compensation from Grace Ocean Private Limited of Singapore (Owners), and Synergy Marine PE Ltd of Singapore (managers), for the resultant financial losses. The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants provided an incompetent, inattentive, improperly trained, improperly supervised crew, on an improperly maintained and unseaworthy vessel, resulting in the bridge collapse, harming the city.

The collapsed parts of the bridge were separated from the ship on 13 May by explosives. A week later the authorities removed Dali using tugboats which then berthed the ship at the Seagirt Marine Terminal, for inspection, assessment, and debris removal. Dali arrived in Hampton Roads on June 25, 2024 in order to unload its cargo at Virginia International Gateway and then undergo repairs.