Goodbye Dali

An ode to sailors and more

90% of the goods we use, consume and collect, from cars to electric drills and mens suits come through a Port of Call on a ship. Baltimore was a port before it was a city. One dock, one boat and a pronouncement by the colonial legislature in Annapolis started the ball rolling in 1706, almost 320 years ago. At that time the edge of the “realm” was somewhere just across South Mountain around where Hagerstown would be founded and where Ft. Frederick would be built.

The Port of Baltimore, like all Ports in America operates pretty much 24/7, 365 days a year…and has since the first day they opened for business. The last time the port workers in Baltimore had a few days off was when the Britts blockaded the Port and started the largest naval bombardment anyone has ever seen in America.

That was in 1814. 210 years ago…and that impressive display of artillery by the world’s greatest navy was witnessed by an attorney and poet, Francis Scott Key who was being held under “boat arrest” by the belligerent Britts out in the Patapsco river where he had a front row seat to history being made.

Key was very impressed with Ft.McHenry’s large battle flag made by Mary Pickersgill (not Betsy Ross) and he wrote a poem about the whole affair. The Baltimoreans repelled the invaders and America won that second war with the former “Motherland”. It took awhile for Key’s poem to gain traction…(people liked to sing it to the tune of an old British drinking song).

Eventually the first of several verses became recognized by Congress in 1931 as our official National Anthem. So Key’s poem about overcoming adversity is one of the most recognized and sung songs in America.

In 1977 an Interstate bridge was built and opened near the location that Key wrote his poem and was named for him. (200 years after we defeated the Britts the first time). It became commonly known around Baltimore as the FSK Bridge. You could clearly see the bridge from Ft. McHenry. I’ve personally sailed/motored under it several times, including on the US Coast Guard’s training tall ship Eagle, which was a trophy of war in WW II (that’s another story).

Fast forward to the morning of March 26, 2024, when a large outbound container ship with over 4,000 containers lost power and collided with Key’s namesake bridge…doing what the British Navy failed to accomplish in 1814…almost totally shutting down the Port of Baltimore for 3 months and killing 6 people working on the bridge. There were no casualties caused by “the rockets red glare…bombs bursting in air”…and the British who had burned the White House and the Capitol retreated leaving the Port open after a few days of harassment.

Yesterday the crippled Dali departed Baltimore, escorted by 4 tugs and a US Coast Guard Cutter. Many here said “Goodbye Dali”, “Good riddance”…”may you never come this way again”.

I got up early “O dark thirty” my sister would call it and went to Pier 13. A vantage point about 200 yards from where the ship was docked. Near my vantage point were the 2 historic vessels that reside there. The NS Savannah and the Liberty Ship SS John W Brown. (again stories for another day).

Two of the escort tugs were tied up there waiting for the signal to move over to the Dali and begin their work for the day. The Captain and the First Mate of the Washington chatted with me about the day’s job and I picked up some info about the Dali that I didn’t know. Her bow compartment was totally flooded and after Norfolk she was going to Turkey…(they never said that was off the record)…to be repaired ? Scrapped? We don’t know yet.

I started shooting stills and video with 4 different cameras. A Lumix S1H, a JVC GY 100, a Canon 7D and a GoPro. It was a beautiful, but windy day. I was the only photographer on Pier 13. My goal was to document this historic moment. It was a slow motion ballet by 5 large dancers orchestrated and conducted by a Bay Pilot, the ships new crew and the 4 tugboat Captains and their crews. The US Coast Guard watched and escorted from a distance. WBAL-TV’s chopper flew overhead…that was the 30 seconds of video you saw on Lester Holts NBC News last night.

I brought the video home, downloaded it and started to edit it. In a couple of hours the 2 hour and 30 minute slo motion departure event, became a 2 minute and 30 second video that I realized was an ode to the professional folks who do this everyday, in all kinds of weather. This was just the most infamous ship they had or will probably ever work with. It was also a testament to the hundreds of people across dozens of agencies and companies who collaborated to make this possible in just 3 months. There was no “playbook” for this. They just created it. Here’s my ode:

The Port is named for Helen Delich Bentley. (that’s another story) She would be proud.