Officials in Baltimore plan to open a deeper channel for commercial ships to enter and leave the city’s port starting on Thursday — a significant step toward reopening the major maritime shipping hub that has remained closed to most traffic since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed last month.
The new channel will be 35 feet (12 meters) deep, which is a substantial increase over the three other temporary channels established in recent weeks. It puts the cleanup effort slightly ahead of schedule, as officials previously said they hoped to open a channel of that depth by the end of April.
Five of the seven cargo ships that have been stuck in Baltimore’s harbor will be able to pass through the new channel, including one loaded car carrier, officials said Tuesday, marking one month since the deadly disaster. Other ships are scheduled to enter the port, which normally processes more cars and farm equipment than any other in the country.
“Four weeks ago, our way of life was dealt a huge blow with the collapse of the Key Bridge,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said during a news conference.
The cargo ship that toppled the bridge had lost power and veered off course shortly after leaving the Port of Baltimore bound for Sri Lanka. The Dali remains grounded amid the wreckage as crews work to remove massive pieces of mangled steel that came crashing down onto the ship’s deck.
Six members of a roadwork crew — all Latino immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras — plunged to their deaths in the collapse. Four bodies have been recovered from the underwater wreckage while two remain missing.
Relatives of the victims have been granted visitor visas, which will allow them to enter the U.S. for memorial services and, in some cases, bring their loved ones back home for burial. The immigrant aid organizations CASA and Catholic Charities’ Esperanza Center announced Monday evening that 16 family members have arrived in the U.S. with another eight expected this week.
Officials said salvage crews have now cleared enough debris — over 2,900 tons so far — to open the new channel to “commercially essential vessels” from Thursday until the following Monday or Tuesday. Ships will be required to have a Maryland pilot on board and two tugboats escorting them through the channel.
The passage will then be closed again until roughly May 10 while crews work to remove steel from the Dali and refloat the ship, which will then be guided back into the port, officials said.
The port’s main channel, with a controlling depth of 50 feet (15 meters), is set to reopen next month after the ship has been removed. That will essentially restore marine traffic to normal.
“We are going to work efficiently and we are going to work safely and we are not going to choose between the two,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said during the news conference.
In a court filing Monday, Baltimore’s mayor and city council called for the Dali’s owner and manager to be held fully liable for the bridge collapse, which they said could have devastating economic impacts on the region. They said the port, which was established before the nation’s founding, has long been an economic driver for Baltimore and the surrounding area. Losing the bridge itself has disrupted a major east coast trucking route.
The filing came in response to an earlier petition on behalf of the two companies asking a court to cap their liability under a pre-Civil War provision of an 1851 maritime law — a routine procedure for such cases. A federal court in Maryland will ultimately decide who’s responsible and how much they owe.
Baltimore leaders accuse ship’s owner and manager of negligence in Key Bridge collapse
The owner and manager of the massive container ship that took down the Francis Scott Key Bridge last month should be held fully liable for the deadly collapse, according to court papers filed Monday on behalf of Baltimore’s mayor and city council.
The two companies filed a petition soon after the March 26 collapse asking a court to cap their liability under a pre-Civil War provision of an 1851 maritime law — a routine but important procedure for such cases. A federal court in Maryland will ultimately decide who’s responsible and how much they owe in what could become one of the most expensive maritime disasters in history.
Singapore-based Grace Ocean Private Ltd. owns the Dali, the vessel that veered off course and slammed into the bridge. Synergy Marine Pte Ltd., also based in Singapore, is the ship’s manager.
In their filing Monday, attorneys for the city accused them of negligence, arguing the companies should have realized the Dali was unfit for its voyage and manned the ship with a competent crew, among other issues.
A spokesperson for the companies said Monday that it would be inappropriate to comment on the pending litigation.
The ship was headed to Sri Lanka when it lost power shortly after leaving Baltimore and struck one of the bridge’s support columns, collapsing the span and sending six members of a roadwork crew plunging to their deaths.
“For more than four decades, cargo ships made thousands of trips every year under the Key Bridge without incident,” the city’s complaint reads. “There was nothing about March 26, 2024 that should have changed that.”
FBI agents boarded the stalled ship last week amid a criminal investigation. A separate federal probe by the National Transportation Safety Board will include an inquiry into whether the ship experienced power issues before starting its voyage, officials have said. That investigation will focus generally on the Dali’s electrical system.
In their earlier petition, Grace Ocean and Synergy sought to cap their liability at roughly $43.6 million. The petition estimates that the vessel itself is valued at up to $90 million and was owed over $1.1 million in income from freight. The estimate also deducts two major expenses: at least $28 million in repair costs and at least $19.5 million in salvage costs.
Grace Ocean also recently initiated a process requiring owners of the cargo on board to cover some of the salvage costs. The company made a “general average” declaration, which allows a third-party adjuster to determine what each stakeholder should contribute.
Baltimore leaders argue the ship’s owner and manager should be held responsible for their role in the disaster, which has halted most maritime traffic through the Port of Baltimore and disrupted an important east coast trucking route. The economic impacts could be devastating for the Baltimore region, the filing says.
“Petitioners’ negligence caused them to destroy the Key Bridge, and singlehandedly shut down the Port of Baltimore, a source of jobs, municipal revenue, and no small amount of pride for the City of Baltimore and its residents,” the attorneys wrote.
Lawyers representing victims of the collapse and their families also have pledged to hold the companies accountable and oppose their request for limited liability.
In the meantime, salvage crews are working to remove thousands of tons of collapsed steel and concrete from the Patapsco River. They’ve opened three temporary channels to allow some vessels to pass through the area, but the port’s main shipping channel is expected to remain closed for several more weeks.
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