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The main channel to the Port of Baltimore has finally been cleared of debris and reopened, more than 10 weeks after a cargo ship lost power and struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
Chartered by Maersk, the Dali cargo ship left Baltimore on March 26 for Sri Lanka before it experienced an apparent loss of power and struck one of the bridge’s critical support columns. It quickly collapsed, killing six construction workers and shutting down one of the major ports in the U.S.
In the weeks since, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers and Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving have removed 50,000 tons of bridge wreckage from the Patapsco River. The Dali was moved to a local marine terminal last month by tugboats and the last piece of wreckage was removed June 4, officials said.
On Monday, the Fort McHenry Federal Channel was restored to its original dimensions — 700 feet wide and 50 feet deep — and the riverbed was declared safe for commercial transit.
The effort required 1,587 individuals across 56 federal, state, and local agencies, along with some 500 specialists from around the world. The recovered wreckage will be transported to Sparrows Point, Maryland, for processing. Follow-up work in the channel will be part of routine maintenance.
“Although the overarching goal to restore full operational capacity to the Federal Channel was successful, each day we thought of those who lost their lives, their families and the workers impacted by this tragic event,” Baltimore District Commander Col Estee Pinchasin said in a statement. “Not a day went by that we didn’t think about all of them, and that kept us going.”
Although the channel has been reopened and the Port of Baltimore is set to resume normal operations, Baltimore is still missing a bridge.
President Joe Biden has said he wants the federal government to pay the full cost of rebuilding the bridge, which is estimated to cost between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion. Some conservatives in Congress have raised questions about footing the bill, noting that the bridge had never received federal funding.
In a statement Monday, Maryland Governor Wes Moore applauded and thanked the teams clearing the wreckage for their work, but noted that rebuilding the bridge needs to be a major priority.
“With the channel now fully open, we can get more Marylanders back to work at the Port of Baltimore, increase the flow of commerce through the city, and accelerate our economic recovery,” Moore said. “But our work is not over until we rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge.”