BALTIMORE (AP) — The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-sea waterway in Baltimore Thursday after being stuck in port. Francis Scott Key Bridge collapses Four weeks ago, most maritime traffic through the city’s ports stopped.
Balsa 94, flying the Panamanian flag, passed through the new 35-foot (12-meter) strait en route to Saint John, Canada. Two more commercial ships followed later Thursday, including a car carrier bound for Panama.
Crews have been working around the clock to remove thousands of tons of crushed steel and concrete from the entrance to the Port of Baltimore, and their long-awaited voyage marks an important step in the ongoing cleanup and recovery effort. It became.
Five ships that have been stranded for weeks are expected to eventually leave Baltimore via a new temporary route. Other ships will also dock at the port, which typically handles more automobiles and farm equipment than any other port in the country.
Thousands of longshoremen, truck drivers and small business owners have had their jobs affected by the collapse, and local and state officials are reopening ports in hopes of mitigating the economic ramifications of the collapse. , is prioritizing getting traffic back to normal. Authorities also established various support programs for unemployed people and others affected by the closure.
On Thursday morning, Balsa 94 was guided through the Channel by two tugboats, one in front and one in back.She glided slowly past the collapsed bridge. The giant container ship “Dari” ran aground. It hit one of the bridge’s supports, causing it to collapse.
Fragments of the steel span still block other parts of the port’s main waterway. The waterway is 50 feet (15 meters) deep, deep enough to accommodate the largest cargo ships and cruise ships.
Barça 94 is scheduled to arrive in Canada on Monday.
The Dali lost power and veered off course shortly after leaving the Port of Baltimore for Sri Lanka last month.
Six road construction workers, all Latino immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, were killed in the collapse. Four bodies were recovered from the wreckage in the water, but two remain missing.
A memorial to the victims near the south end of the bridge has grown in size in recent weeks. It now includes six large wooden crosses decorated with flags of the victims’ home countries, as well as personal items such as helmets and work boots that allowed them to support their families and pursue the American dream. There is. The painted canvas background displays an abstract scene of a bridge collapse and rescue efforts, as well as handwritten notes from the man’s loved ones.
“We are here and we want to send a message to the world that we care,” said artist Roberto Marquez, who was visiting the monument late Thursday morning. “We will work here until everyone recovers.”
The new route will remain open until Monday or Tuesday, then close again until approximately May 10. During the closure, crew will remove the steel span from Dali’s deck, refloat the ship, and then be guided back to port. officials said earlier this week.
The port’s main waterway is expected to reopen next month after the Dali is removed from the site of the collapse. This allows normal traffic flow through the port to resume.
But for now, the 35-foot depth is a significant increase over three other temporary channels established in recent weeks. Officials had previously said they hoped to open the channel at that depth by the end of April, so the cleanup will be pushed slightly ahead of schedule.
Carmen, a huge car carrier almost as long as the Dali, became the third commercial ship to pass through the strait on Thursday afternoon. From the deck of a nearby passenger ship, it appeared to be moving steadily between marker buoys, dwarfing nearby cranes, barges and other debris removal equipment.
Crews continued the arduous task of clearing debris from the collapse site even as commercial ships whizzed by. On Thursday, they used crane equipment to break the fallen road into manageable pieces that they were able to pull out of the water with their giant claws.
in Submission to court On Monday, Baltimore’s mayor and City Council called on Dali’s owners and managers to be held fully responsible for the bridge collapse, citing the potentially devastating impact on the local economy.they said portFounded before the founding of the United States, it has long been an economic driver for Baltimore and the surrounding area. The loss of the bridge itself also disrupted a major trucking route on the East Coast.
The filing was filed in response to an earlier petition on behalf of the companies asking the court to cap their liability under the provisions of the antebellum Admiralty Act of 1851. This is the normal procedure. A federal court in Maryland will ultimately decide who is liable and how much is owed.
Meanwhile, both FBI and National Transportation Safety Board An investigation is underway to determine why the ship lost power and collided with the bridge.
