Salvors rush to clear bridge debris to reopen Baltimore port

Salvors are rushing to clear debris from the collapsed Baltimore, US, Francis Scott Key Bridge to reopen the port and refloat the crashed container ship. Donjon Marine, Resolve Marine and Skanska are working with Unified Command and several subcontractors to clear the wreckage of this 3-km bridge, which had spanned the Patapsco River, and refloat the damaged ship.

Donjon Marine is responsible for clearing the main navigation channel. Resolve Marine is the oil spill response organisation that the responsible party has contracted as part of the vessel response plan and is working to refloat Dali. Skanska is clearing debris found outside the main navigation channel.

According to the US Coast Guard (USCG), 2015-built container ship Dali struck a support pillar on the bridge in Baltimore, causing the 47-year-old structure to collapse, and the loss of construction workers and vehicles at 01:30, 26 March 2024.

This 9,962-TEU, 289-m container ship is owned by Grace Ocean of Singapore and operated by Synergy Marine Group. It had 22 crew on board when it left the terminal with tugboat support. Once it reached the shipping channel, McAllister harbour tugs were released from duty and two onboard pilots started navigating it from the port. 

The USCG says Dali suffered a complete blackout and change in direction, ultimately colliding with the bridge pillar, causing the death of workers on the bridge. No crew were injured and there was no pollution. 

Part of the bridge landed on the Singapore-flagged ship’s foredeck, damaging containers and the hull. US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Federal Bureau of Investigation and USCG representatives have since boarded Dali to carry out investigations and have recovered and reviewed its voyage data recorder.

The NTSB asked the engineroom equipment manufacturer to look closely at the electrical power system and is itself reviewing the circuit breakers and testing the ship’s fuel for signs of contamination. Its initial report could be published in May. 

The US Army Corps of Engineers plans to open a limited access channel 85 m wide and 11 m deep to the Port of Baltimore by the end of April, while the port’s main channel could be opened by the end of May. 

By 15 April, Unified Command had recovered four of the missing construction workers and some of the damaged vehicles and bridge structures. It had removed containers on Dali and cleared some bridge wreckage from the incident site. This will continue into May.

Removing the containers will enable salvors and cranes to access the bridge structure on the ship’s bow and takes weight off the ship, ultimately enabling the ship’s movement. Around 38 containers had been removed by 11 April by Weeks 533 crane barge on to a pontoon barge.