Capture History
doing what I do
As all of you know the container ship Dali crashed into Baltimore’s Key Bridge 3 months ago…a disaster the size of which, Baltimore has not seen since the Great Fire. The Port of Baltimore has gotten more attention in the past 3 months than it has since the Britts bombarded Ft. McHenry and Mr Key wrote a poem that eventually became our National Anthem. Comings and goings in the Port are pretty much wallpaper around here or totally unnoticed by most of the public until a massive container ship gets stuck in the channel or knocks down a bridge. Then all eyes are on the Port.
My wife and I just moved and downsized after 17 years in a 100 year old house that we loved…so I’ve been busy, too busy to go check things out for myself. That changed about a week ago…as we are moved in enough that I can pay attention to work and projects I’m interested in. I went out and scouted the situation last week with my friends, Mike Singer and Kipp Snow.
Mike’s live stream camera captured the crash of the Dali that fateful morning, becoming the most played video in the world for a week. Mike became an instant celebrity and found out what 30 seconds of fame is like.
Kipp is a local college professor teaching logistics, transportation and maritime stuff. We’ve worked together on a number of projects. The 2 of them started a podcast recently and I recorded them on location at Pier 13 where 2 historic ships are docked. The NS Savannah and Liberty Ship SS John W Brown. They did 12 minutes for the podcast…I just hit focused the camera, hit record and listened. Kipp edited that together with an interview by a local Maritime attorney who explained how intricate a case this is. Here’s the Podcast:
After several delays it appears the Dali is going to depart Baltimore today, escorted by 4 tugs, a Coast Guard Cutter and a salvage ship, just in case something falls off of the boat. She is scheduled to depart around 0800…8AM…and reach the Bay Bridge around noon, when traffic will be blocked until she passes through. The ship is going into dry dock in Norfolk for repairs…and the Port of Baltimore will continue to heal and repair itself.
So I’m headed to Pier 13 to capture the historic moment. Tune in for more later.
Wow. She’ll be coming past me late this afternoon! If the weather holds I’ll run the skiff out and watch the parade. Thanks!
So glad this is finally coming to an end, even as I'm amazed by the speed of which the new bridge was constructed.
Looking forward to seeing your images of this!