This week, the Captain of the Port of Baltimore and the U.S. Coast Guard announced that a third, deeper channel was now open for boats and smaller ships to move through the downed bridge to the commercial port. It is called the Fort Carroll Channel.
The two channels opened earlier offered depths of 12 to 14 feet, which is enough for fishing boats and smaller working boats but insufficient for anything capable of carrying cargo.
The new channel provides a working depth of 20 feet, which will accommodate smaller container ships, tugs and barges. A deeper channel with working depths of 35 feet and more is scheduled to open by the end of April and that will increase shipping traffic significantly to about 15% of the port’s capacity.
Meanwhile, the work of removing the fallen Francis Scott Key Bridge goes on around the clock. This week, the Army Corps of Engineers delivered a 200-ton hydraulic claw that can lift 1,000 tons at a time. This will greatly enhance the efforts to remove bridge structures that are now obstructing the main channel.
Also, this week, the Port of Baltimore filed a lawsuit against the owners and presumably insurers of the Dali, the container ship that hit the bridge and so dramatically destroyed it.
