Baltimore shipping set to resume by end of April

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Reuters – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said April 4 that it expects to open a new channel to the Port of Baltimore by the end of April, freeing up commercial shipping blocked by a collapsed bridge. It expects to restore port access to full capacity by the end of May.

The main channel has been blocked by wreckage since the fully loaded container ship Dali lost power and rammed into a support column of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, killing six road workers and causing the highway bridge to tumble into the Patapsco River.

The Army Corps said that within four weeks the channel will be suitable for some roll-on/roll-off vessels that transport automobiles and farm equipment.

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The Port of Baltimore ranks first in the United States in volumes of vehicles and farm and construction machinery, according to the state of Maryland. Most of that traffic has been suspended since the accident, though some terminal operations outside the affected area have resumed.

In early April, two auxiliary channels suitable for emergency vessels, tugs and barges were opened on either side of the disabled ship, which is stuck beneath bridge debris. Thousands of containers and a crew of 21 sailors are still aboard.

Those two channels are too shallow for major cargo ships.

By the end of May, the corps said it expects to restore port access to its full capacity with a 700-foot-wide by 50-foot-deep navigation channel.

Before then, salvage crews must remove steel bridge debris from atop the Dali to extract it from the harbour, then clear the twisted metal and highway wreckage that fell into the water.