It’s a potential crime scene besides maritime and insurance investigations. Operations to secure the cargo in danger of falling overboard, maintaining logs/recording/records, and doing enough to keep the ship floating are priorities that would stop much alterations.
Well, I figured The Powers That Be may have already identified what was wrong with the ship, and gathered whatever other information they’ll need to establish a cause. They probably want the ship moved, and the harbor open as soon as possible.
I suppose they could move the ship with tugboats, so it doesn’t have to be running right away. Is there any reason not to get it fixed; has it been safe to go on board since the accident; is there anything relevant relevant to the investigation still to be determined?
Besides that, most of the damaged area was what was under the bridge structure that was resting on the boat. & if it’s severe enough they’d need to unload all of the containers before attempting repairs.
Yes, but what was damaged that caused the accident in the first place? Weren’t there reports that the ship wasn’t fully repaired befoe setting off, and that it lost electrical power before hitting the bridge? I was wondering if that stuff has been identified and fixed yet.
The impact damage is all local to the bow of the ship. Not certain where the crew quarters are, but likely they are somewhere near the ship’s bridge, which looks about 1/3 of the way back from the bow. On the news last night it was reported that the original crew had been abord the ship ever since it left port. Apparently there is plenty of work to do to keep everything, uh, ship-shape, even when they’re not under way. Equipment needs to be maintained, refrigerated/frozen containers need to be checked, someone needs to watch for leaks, fires, etc.
Article in the paper today ended saying the ship’s crew has not been allowed to leave the ship all this time. Seems odd. Why is that?
Foreign nationals. Customs and immigration would need to clear them - visas and all that. Most ports have areas where the foreign crews can debark but not go into the country proper or they just stay on board. The captain and/or first mate may have the right paperwork to get into the country - crew, no.
Yeah, that’s what I assumed. I guess if the ship had continued they woulda been on board anyways. But I woulda thought they coulda gotten them off into some holding area, or the shipping company coulda shipped them back to wherever.
I imagine the shipping company could arrange it.
Whether they want to go to the trouble and expense (which includes replacement crew members) is a different story.
The shipping industry is as exploitative as any other where much of the labor is performed by nationals from (relatively) poorer nations. Even if the owners could get them off, I doubt they would care to.
Even if the ship ha a bridge stuck on top of it, it still needs to be crewed/maintained/operated, as it would while underway. They are used to going months without ever disembarking from the ship. Even under normal operations bulk carriers do not stay in port long enough for crews to go on port calls.
Hopefully they are getting paid for their time.
A question I asked a few years ago:
Check out https://www.youtube.com/@ChiefMAKOi
An excellent YT channel that will more than answer all of your questions.
Seeing as how they impressively failed just about the biggest function of leaving port, there might be an argument for having a COMPETENT crew on board. 
Got a package stuck in Baltimore, Jack
There on a big boat that took a wrong tack
Big Old Ship tryin’ to get out of town
Ran into the bridge and it just fell down
Everybody’s got a Hungry Heart
The NTSB has released the preliminary report. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet.
… is the right answer, with the exception of the last sentence. It is a ship at sea. Subject to narrow exceptions it must be fully crewed at all times by law.
As to your last sentence, it isn’t a bulk carrier it’s a container vessel. It isn’t correct to make a blanket statement that ships (whether bulk carriers or container vessels) do not stay in port long enough for the crew to go on port calls. However, it is true to say that shore leave has become increasingly straitened for a number of legal and geographical reasons. Port calls have got quicker. Crews have got smaller. Ports have tended to shift from the center of cities to outlying areas where it is more difficult to get from the port to anywhere that crew might wish to take shore leave. Since 9/11, paranoia about evil foreigners has made customs and immigration requirements substantially more onerous.
The bridge sits atop what is known as the “accommodation block”. The name is self explanatory.
The managers of the vessel are a Singapore company that (leaving aside a certain recent high-profile incident!) I would have described as top tier operators. Reviewing their record of port state control inspections, I would say that their ships are managed at a level well above average.
As I understand it, the vessel was on charter to Maersk. While Maersk (as a charterer) have no legal responsibility for crewing, they tend to vet the ships they charter carefully and would not tolerate owners who did not pay crew.
In short, I would be close to certain that the crew of this vessel were and are not being mistreated.
Interesting. This preliminary report does not get to the bottom of the cause although I can perhaps see an obvious line of inquiry (and possible error).
Preliminary reports are largely statements of fact. I read NTSB reports for aviation regularly (and those from equivalent agencies in other countries) and they are all similar on that regard.
The full investigation can take many more months or years before a report is published. The advantage here is the fact-finding publication can sometimes lead to more people coming forward with information.
The intent of these reports is to enhance transportation safety, and not to apportion blame or support litigation (in most countries). That said, lawyers often uses these facts to begin legal procedures.
I’ll probably get around to reading it tonight or tomorrow. Too much going on otherwise!