• The ship, carrying steel and cement, was on a 27-day journey from Baltimore to Sri Lanka.
• The ship suffered two electrical blackouts and lost power twice in the 10 hours leading up to the crash.
• Authorities are likely to re-float the ship this week, but the journey to port remains uncertain.

On Monday, as a controlled explosion rocked the Dali, nearly two dozen sailors remained on board, below deck in the massive ship’s hull. The simultaneous blasts sent pieces of Baltimore’s once iconic Francis Scott Key Bridge into the dark waters of Maryland’s Patapsco River, seven weeks after its collapse left six people dead on the bridge and the Dali marooned.

Authorities – and the crew – hope that the demolition will mark the beginning of the end of a long process that has left the 21 men on board trapped and cut off from the world, thousands of miles from their homes.

However, it remains unclear when they will be able to return home.

Striking the Francis Scott Key Bridge, the Dali – a 948ft (289m) container ship – was at the start of a 27-day journey from Baltimore to Sri Lanka, thereby sending thousands of tonnes of steel and cement into the Patapsco. Consequently, it left the ship stranded under a massive expanse of shredded metal.

A preliminary NTSB report found that two electrical blackouts disabled equipment ahead of the incident, and noted that the ship lost power twice in the 10 hours leading up to the crash.

Visa restrictions and a lack of required shore passes have prevented the crew, consisting of 20 Indians and a Sri Lankan national, from disembarking. Parallel ongoing investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and FBI further compound the situation.

On Monday, as authorities used small explosive charges to deliberately “cut” an expanse of the bridge lying on the ship’s bow, the crew remained on board.

Before the controlled demolition, US Coast Guard Admiral Shannon Gilreath stated that the crew would remain below deck with a fire crew at the ready.

“They’re part of the ship. They are necessary to keep the ship staffed and operational,” Adm Gilreath said. “They’re the best responders on board the ship themselves.”

While authorities are likely to re-float the ship this week, it remains unclear when they will be able to make the 2 nautical mile (3.7km) journey to port.

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