BALTIMORE — The first container ship has arrived at the Port of Baltimore since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed more than a month ago.
The MSC Cargo Passion III crossed the temporary 35-foot canal on Sunday with nearly 1,000 containers.
“Another milestone today! the Port of Baltimore said on social media.
Four temporary canals have been opened since the bridge collapsed on March 26.
This fourth channel will only be open for a few days, but at 35 feet deep and 300 feet wide, it will allow several ships stuck in Baltimore Harbor to be removed.
“Around that 35-foot draft is where you really start to get some of the inventory coming on board that was really one of the hallmarks of the Port of Baltimore,” said the Governor of Maryland, Wes Moore.
The opening of these channels follows the largest of four recent openings on Thursday, which restored 15% of pre-collapse commercial activity to the Port of Baltimore. This adjustment will allow large, stranded commercial vessels to leave and others to enter, including those carrying containers, vehicles and agricultural equipment.
Authorized pleasure boats
Pleasure boats will also be able to pass through the Key Bridge collapse recovery zone at specific times.
Larry Lewis has spent around 20 years on the water. He says the ability to pass through the collapse site is important for boaters, not just charter companies.
“We have boaters and homeowners who are stuck on the other side of the bridge, and some are trying to get out for maintenance and work,” Lewis said.
Traffic through the temporary channels will be strictly one-way, with outbound movements scheduled from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and inbound movements from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
“There will be a lot of people leading and making sure that this crossing is very safe and orderly,” Lewis explained.
Rescue effort at Key Bridge site underway
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is leading the rescue efforts. The branch said its priority was to clear the main channel through the river to reopen access to the Port of Baltimore.
Massive floating cranes are being used as wrecks and debris removal continues. Engineers must break the mangled bridge into smaller pieces to lift them, and the Navy sonar images revealed a wreck in the deepest part of the canal.
Governor Wes Moore announced Friday that more than 1,300 tons of steel from what was once the Francis Scott Key Bridge have been removed from the river so far.
The rubble and debris will be sent to nearby Sparrows Point for processing and recycling.
The schedule for the main transport channel remains at the end of May
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to reopen the main shipping channel, which is 700 feet wide and 50 feet deep, by the end of May.
“There’s no way around the fact that in terms of the impact on the local and national economy, we want to get back to 100 percent of pre-collapse activity, because that just contributes to the creating a lot of jobs in the economy, contributes to so much revenue flowing through the city, the county and the rest of the state,” DePasquale said.
With the main canal closed, businesses have had to resort to alternative methods of transporting their products.
With almost half of the 700-foot main shipping channel clear, rescue teams are now focusing on the portion of the span above the Dali.
2 bodies remain missing
THE men killed when the Key Bridge collapsed, were working for Brawner Builders, filling potholes on the bridge’s center span.
“Most were immigrants, but all were Marylanders.” President Joe Biden said shortly after the collapse. “Hardworking, strong and selfless. After working nights repairing potholes, they were on break when the ship struck.”
As a memorial develops on Fort Armistead Road for the six men killed in the accident, recovery efforts to find the two workers still missing under the rubble continue. They were identified as Miguel Luna, from El Salvador, and Jose Maynor Lopez, from Guatemala.
Three of the victims found were identified as: Dorlian Cabrera, 26, originally from Guatemala and living in Dundalk; Alejandro Hernández Fuentes, 35, who lived in Baltimore and was originally from Mexico; and Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval, 38, of Guatemala.
A fourth body was found last week. He has not been identified at the request of his family, but he is known to be from Mexico.
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