The “Dali” ship that collapsed the US Baltimore Bridge successfully refloated and is about to be towed out of the main channel and safely transferred to the local seaport terminal. This marks a crucial step in the full resumption of operations at the Port of Baltimore.
Before 7 am local time on May 20, the “Dali” refloated with the joint efforts of five tugboats and other various vessels during high tide. Then, the ship was towed to the Seagirt Seaport Terminal 2.5 miles away and finally arrived around 9 am.
The United States Joint Command stated in a statement: “This marks the resumption of commercial ships entering and exiting the Port of Baltimore. We are very pleased to see the ‘Dali’ successfully refloat and be transferred to a new position today. We will not slow down until the waterway is fully restored.”
At present, workers are still continuing to remove the remaining debris at the accident site. The Joint Command expects that the operating width of the waterway will soon reach 400 feet wide and 50 feet deep. Salvage workers will continue to clear any remaining bridge debris until the waterway is restored to its original 700 – foot width. Maryland’s governor said on Sunday that workers are expected to completely clear the waterway within this month and restore full access to the port. Since the collapse of the bridge, the authorities have opened four temporary waterways to resume part of the shipping.
At 3:30 pm local time on March 26, the “Dali” cargo ship flying the Singapore flag and loaded with 9,971 containers collided with the “Francis Scott Key” Bridge, causing the steel bridge structure to collapse and people and vehicles to fall into the Patapsco River, resulting in 6 deaths. After the bridge collapse, the “Dali” cargo ship was trapped under the bridge, and most of the maritime traffic at the Port of Baltimore was also shut down.
According to the Associated Press report on May 13 local time, the United States will blast the remains of the Baltimore “Francis Scott Key” Bridge to remove the “Dali” cargo ship trapped under the bridge and restore the maritime traffic at the Port of Baltimore. The blasting was originally scheduled for the evening of May 12 local time, but due to weather reasons, the blasting work was postponed until May 14. After nearly 8 weeks of efforts, the accident container ship finally refloated and was transferred.
