Crews turn sights to removing debris from ship's deck in Baltimore bridge collapse cleanup
the Dali, a massive cargo ship that veered off course and caused the deadly catastrophe last month. An estimated 3,000 to 4,000 tons of steel and concrete landed on the ship’s deck after it crashed into one of the bridge’s supporting columns and toppled the span, officials said at a news conference Friday. Crews will have to remove all that before refloating the stationary ship and guiding it back into the Port of Baltimore.
Officials displayed overhead photos of the ship with an entire section of fallen roadway crushing its bow. So far, cranes have lifted about 120 containers from the Dali, with another 20 to go before workers can build a staging area and begin removing pieces of the mangled steel and crumbling concrete. The ship was laden with about 4,000 containers and headed for Sri Lanka when it lost power shortly after leaving Baltimore.
Its owner recently initiated a process requiring owners of the cargo on board to cover some of the salvage costs. Six members of a roadwork crew plunged to their deaths in the collapse and two bodies remain unaccounted for. “We cannot forget a true and hurting fact," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said during the news conference.
“There are still two Marylanders lost and still waiting to be returned with their families for closure." As the salvage operations continue alongside federal and law enforcement investigations, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said getting the bridge rebuilt is an urgent priority. The 1.6 mile (2.6 kilometer) span connected working-class communities on either side of Baltimore’s harbor, allowing steelworkers and longshoremen to easily traverse the Patapsco River without driving through downtown and providing a vital route for East Coast truckers.
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