Ship that destroyed Baltimore bridge is moved from crash site for 1st time

BALTIMORE, MD (ABC NEWS)– The cargo ship that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore nearly two months ago was moved from the crash site for the first time on Monday morning.

The Dali, a 984-foot container ship, had been partially blocking the entrance to one of America’s busiest ports since the March 26 collision that triggered a catastrophic collapse of the 1.6-mile-long span and killed six workers.

“Optimum conditions call for the transit of the DALI to commence at high tide, predicted to be Monday at 5:24 a.m.,” officials said in a statement on Sunday.

Up to five tugboats were expected to help move the ship about 2.5 miles to the local marine terminal — a trip expected to take about three hours, officials said.

Last week workers did a controlled demolition of much of the remains of the Francis Key Scott Bridge, which had been turned into a tangle of steel girders that rested on the seafloor and rose out of the water.

Crews are on track for the “full channel” to reopen by the end of May, Jonathan Daniels, executive director of the Maryland Port Administration, said at a news conference Monday.

One obstacle crews are encountering is the “soft bottom”— pieces of steel 10 to 15 feet below the mud line that must be removed to avoid interfering with operations, Daniels said.

“So they’re being extremely methodical and very efficient in the removal of that material and making sure that by the end of May, everything is in place,” Daniels said.

For the time being, there will be one-way traffic due to the “narrow nature of the channel,” Daniels said.

The U.S. Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board will determine how vessels will arrive and depart through the channel going forward, Daniels said.

Cruises are also returning to Baltimore. Royal Caribbean will be the first cruise to depart the Port of Baltimore on May 26, according to port officials.