A temporary channel will be opened to allow some commercial vessels to resume operations in and out of the Baltimore port, while efforts to clean up the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge continue, authorities announced on Sunday night.
A statement issued by Unified Command—a group of federal and state agencies overseeing the response to the bridge collapse—said the captain of the port is setting up “a temporary alternate channel on the northeast side of the main channel…for commercially essential vessels.”
Officials said the move was part of a “phased approach to opening the main channel” and the temporary route will be marked with navigational aids and have “a controlling depth of 11 feet, a 264-foot horizontal clearance, and vertical clearance 96 feet.”
U.S. Coast Guard Capt. David O’Connell, the federal response coordinator on-scene, said opening the alternate route will support “the flow of marine traffic into Baltimore,” but it is unclear which specific vessels will be allowed to use it.
The statement also does not mention a timeline for when the alternate route will be opened.
An existing 2,000-yard safety zone around the Francis Scott Key Bridge remains in effect, and no ships or people are allowed to enter this safety zone without authorization from the captain of the port.
All shipping traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore has remained blocked since the Francis Scott Bridge collapsed last week after being struck by a cargo ship. The incident led to the death of six people who were conducting maintenance work on the bridge. However, authorities have only managed to recover the bodies of two of the deceased individuals. On Sunday, recovery crews began the delicate and complicated task of clearing up the steel and concrete debris from the incident site. The cargo ship Dali, which collided with the bridge remains stuck at the incident site with all 22 crew members still on board.
Speaking to CBS News’ Face the Nation, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg responded to a query about how long it will take to remove the ship, clear the debris and reopen the channel, by saying: “We haven’t received a timeline yet…This is going to be a very complex process, there are even now forces acting on that steel. So it takes a lot to make sure that it can be dismantled safely, to make sure that the vessel stays where it is supposed to be and doesn’t swing out into the channel.”
$80.8 billion. That is the total value of foreign cargo that moved through the Port of Baltimore in 2023, according to Gov. Wes Moore’s office. More than 847,000 cars and light trucks also moved through the port in 2023, more than any other U.S. port.
22 Crew Members Stuck Aboard The Dali—The Ship That Knocked Down Baltimore’s Key Bridge. Here’s What We Know. (Forbes)
Biden Vows Federal Government Will Pay For Baltimore Bridge Rebuild After Collapse (Forbes)
Baltimore Bridge Collapse Will Have Minimal Effects On Vehicle Inflation, Economists Say (Forbes)
