In a petition sent to a judge on Tuesday, the city argues that allowing the foreign crew of the Dali to leave the country could interfere with two investigations being led by the FBI and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The sailors, who are from India and Sri Lanka, have been trapped aboard the ship since it hit the bridge on 26 March, killing six construction workers on the bridge.
According to court documents, the city learned on Tuesday from the ship’s owners that eight of the sailors were planning to leave the US as early as Thursday.
Lawyers for the city and another party filing suit against the ship owners are asking the judge to convene an emergency hearing to decide the issue.
“The crew consists entirely of foreign nationals who, of course, have critical knowledge and information about the events giving rise to this litigation,” wrote Adam Levitt, a lawyer for the city of Baltimore.
Bad faith argument.
We can imprison people indefinitely. They aren’t going to be responsible anyways. If anything it’s the local government’s responsibility. They should have protected critical infrastructure. Maybe vessels capable of causing catastrophic damage should be escorted by tug boats.
It’s the fault of the company and the captain, not the crew. The deckhands don’t have any control over the engines or electrical systems, nor do they decide to leave port with an unreliable ship.
Most of the crew should be released if everyone is done questioning them, with the exception of at least the captain. But it’s not like detaining them is some huge hardship, because they should be getting paid on the ship either way, just like every other day.