The Captain Of The Ship That Crashed Into The Baltimore Bridge Was Not Ukrainian
The Claim
The Captain Of The Ship That Crashed Into The Baltimore Bridge Was Ukrainian.
News posted on
Emerging story
In the aftermath of the collision between the Dali ship and Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore that caused the killing of six construction workers, a claim went viral on social media platforms alleging that the caption of the Dali ship was Ukrainian.
As evidence of their claim, some social media users supported their claim with a screenshot of a Ukrainian from the Baltic Shipping website, a database of shipping vessels and jobs in the shipping industry, who is purportedly serving in the ship when it crashed into the bridge in Baltimore.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar investigated the viral claim and found it to be misleading.
After revising the available online records on the crew of the Dali ship provided by Baltics Shipping, Misbar's team found that the captain was Indian. The Ukrainian captain shown in the image provided by social media users has no relation to the collision.
The Ukrainian Captain Of The Dali Ship Is Completely Irrelevant To The Recent Incident
The viral image the users used as evidence of this claim shows a Ukrainian captain who served on the ship nearly a decade ago, from March to July 2016, not 2024.
Furthermore, the corporate owner of the Dali, Synergy Marine Group, has stated that the crew of the ship during the incident was composed entirely of Indian citizens. “All Indian, 22 in total.”
It is noteworthy that regardless of the nationality of the captain of the ship, it is by law that each ship coming to Maryland port is “required to take on a local ship handling specialist, known as the Pilot, to navigate the vessel safely into port. Pilots are regulated by the State of Maryland under the Department of Labor, State Board of Pilots,” as explained on the Maryland Pilots Association website.
What Caused The Collision Between Dali Ship And Francis Scott Key Bridge
On March 26, early Tuesday morning, Dali, a massive cargo ship, slammed into Francis Scott Key bridge. Officials and experts are still investigating the incident, crafting a timeline of events to find what caused the collision.
The ship reportedly lost propulsion, as issued by CISA in an unclassified memo. Wes Moore, Maryland Gov. stated that the ship’s crew reported a “power issue.” However, the exact reason is still unknown as the spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the collision, said the agency still needs to verify that the Dali ship lost power before striking the bridge column.
Human error may as well have played a role in the accident. As the accident happened around 1:30 a.m. local time, fatigue might be a factor of concern, suspected Helen Sampson, the director of the Seafarers International Research Centre at the University of Cardiff. In a recent interview with Sky News, Sampson asked: “Was there some sort of miscommunication or misunderstanding between the pilot and the crew? Or was there a pilot error?” “The time makes me also wonder whether there was an element of fatigue at play,” she added.
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