The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after being struck by the container ship Dali. The bridge is currently docked at the Sea Girt Marine Terminal in Baltimore. Salvage crews continue to work to remove the wreckage. (Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Jerry Jackson | Baltimore Sun | Getty Images
The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26 killed six people and disrupted marine traffic into the port, but the main access to the Port of Baltimore has been fully reopened.
The bridge collapsed in late March after the cargo ship Dali collided with it, blocking a major shipping artery to America’s busiest auto port.
The Port of Baltimore handled a record 1.1 million containers and $80.8 billion worth of foreign cargo last year, according to state data. Six highway construction workers died after falling during an overnight road construction job.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Monday evening that the Fort McHenry Federal Waterway has been restored to its original operational dimensions of 700 feet wide and 50 feet deep for commercial shipping through the Port of Baltimore.
“We have opened the Fort McHenry Federal Waterway for safe navigation and the U.S. Marine Corps will continue to maintain this vital waterway as they have for the past 107 years,” Col. Este Pinchasin, Baltimore District commander, said in a statement.
The restoration follows cleanup efforts that began March 30, which saw approximately 50,000 tons of bridge debris removed from the Patapsco River, allowing the river’s waterways to gradually reopen over the following weeks.
On May 20, authorities succeeded in refloating and removing the 300-metre (984-foot) long Dali, which had been stranded beneath the wreckage for nearly two months.
The ship was chartered by a Danish shipping giant. MarsukAccording to a preliminary investigation report by the National Transportation Safety Board, the plane was en route from Sri Lanka to Baltimore when it “lost power and thrust and struck the south pier supporting the center truss of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.”
