(Reuters) – Workers in Baltimore were preparing to free a crashed cargo ship nearly as long as the Eiffel Tower from a canal it was blocking, officials said on Sunday, nearly two months after the ship collapsed on the Francis Scott Key Bridge, paralyzing a major eastern U.S. port. .
The joint command organizations overseeing the response said work would begin early Monday morning to move the cargo ship Dali to a local marine terminal.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that workers expect to fully clear the canal this month, restoring full access to the busiest port for U.S. auto shipments.
“By the end of May, we will have reopened this federal canal, and in a few days, we will remove this huge ship, the Dali, from this federal canal,” Moore said.
Federal investigators said in a preliminary report last week that the Daly lost power several times before crashing into the Key Bridge. The impact caused the bridge to collapse, killing six road construction workers and disrupting ship traffic through the canal and vehicular traffic along the I-95 corridor in the northeastern United States.
Authorities opened four temporary canals after the crash, allowing some traffic to resume.
Last week, crews carried out controlled explosions to remove part of the collapsed bridge from the Dali’s bow, which was necessary to later enable salvage crews to remove the twisted metal debris using cranes and barges, U.S. Army Corps engineers said. Maryland officials estimate that rebuilding the bridge will cost $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion and is expected to be completed by fall 2028.
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