Status of MV Dali
Submitted by QMS on Tue, 04/02/2024 - 8:12am
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There appears to be one tug alongside the container ship at the moment.
A fire boat is just below the stranded vessel. There are 3 crane barges
working in the debris area to the north. They have opened a small channel
under the bridge in that area. Several CG boats scattered around upstream
and downstream. The crew is still onboard running ship systems and helping
assist vessels. This is a graphic of current activity.
https://www.vesselfinder.com/?imo=9697428
Apparently the investigators are not making an attempt to tow the Dali yet.
Comments
They are going to have to get
all the bridge debris off her bow before they can go anywhere. I've seen estimates of 4000 tons of superstructure and road deck hanging off her, and she is solidly pinned to the bottom. She's hard aground, and as close to sunk as she can be in shallow water.
Looks to me as if they are completely focused on opening that alternate shallow-draft channel to her north, and after that is done, they'll get around to trying to unbury her. I don't see her moving in less than a month...
The pictures of her bow really tell the tale, with a whole bunch of her starboard bow completely peeled off down to the bulkheads by the collision with the bridge support pier. I can only imagine how utterly trashed her bulbous bow is below the waterline: I'd be flat-out astonished if she isn't taking on water. I suspect that the 21 crew dogs aboard will be pumping their brains out for the duration. Seems like a bad day all around.
They're gonna need a bigger crane. Too bad that the century-old protectionist laws (looking at you, Foreign Dredge Act of 1906) won't allow non-US-made-or-owned dredging hardware to work our waters, innit? Perhaps Management might consider an executive action to override some of those, or maybe our congresssluts can get their poop in a group and advance S.3435 to repeal it. I'm told that those Mammoet guys have some good ideas on how to carve up and haul away misplaced stuff...
On edit: and here's some side-scan sonar images to give a feel for the mess that exists below the waterline. Sorry for the Zerohedge link, but in this case they have useful information- as long as you stay away from the comments... (;-)
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
bow bilge roaring
Hi UFS, and QMS, and all,
Thanks for posting this Capt.!
I hear it is pinned on a gas line too? Not sure but in some views you can see the bow is absolutely pegged to bottom as stern is up far higher that it normally rides. Man that bow it shredded. Great cross-section though.
I have been thinking for more than a day that it HAS to be taking on water. And longed for a good slow roll around waterline to see bilge output. I see in this tweet:
https://twitter.com/BaltimoreBanner/status/1774909805229912090
between :06 and :10 seconds, about maybe 8 feet astern of bow is a roaring bilge pump outflow. Normal bilge output is not at bow and surely this is water ingress, being egressed. And that ain't no Catalina 26 bilge pump going either.
happy trails all!
edit to fix spelling of three-letter word, and again for another type...
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
Many parts of the world are talking
...about different aspects of the US bridge collision catastrophe. Those nations with the highest math and engineering scores are doing a lot of the discussing. The early US estimates for clearing and replacing the bridge has led to a great deal of astonishment: How long it will take the US to rebuild the bridge. I can remember what the US estimated. Ten years? Also the cost is mind boggling for such a simple bridge. Simple by Chinese standards, that is. These discussions have brought a flurry of mind-boggling engineering videos to the commentary. Here's one that dropped about two weeks ago — for those interested:
.
One important realization comes to mind: Civilization is Infrastructure. Infrastructure projects multiply the economic well-being of a nation. Infrastructure unleashes a flood of opportunities for all the people to fulfill their aspirations.
Fascinating engineering works
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something the US version of private / public endeavors may never match
thanks for sharing this!
question everything
We don't make
many engineers these days. Nobody wants to build new things any more. The ones who aren't on the law or med tracks all seem to want to go to B-school, get their MBAs, and learn how to extract wealth without really working. Building infrastructure is not sexy, and doesn't pay all that well until you have earned your stripes.
When I was in college for engineering back in the early 70s, the student body back at Gosh Whatta U was already pushing 50% foreign born. I can't imagine that that situation has improved, with respect to US-based students. After all, why would an entitled US student want to work that hard? Screw civilization. Pick the path of least resistance, on they way to getting your key to the executive washroom. And wads of cash, of course.
I may be old and broke, but I wouldn't exchange the stripes I've earned for anything. I still don't have the key to the executive washroom (I couldn't pass the sociopath test)- but along the way I learned just how meaningless that particular achievement has become.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
What I would like to know is
Who profits from the salvage of tons of structural steel from the bridge? Not us taxpayers, I am guessing.
What prevents someone in authority from getting the containers off the ship? You, owners, do so or we will and bill you later.
Mary Bennett