Authorities confirmed on Monday that the Baltimore shipping lane, which had been closed for more than two months following a cargo ship’s collision with a major bridge in March that sent it plunging into the ocean, has fully reopened.
According to a statement from the Key Bridge Response Unified Command, the US Army Corps of Engineers and Navy salvage divers removed around 50,000 tons of debris from the Patapsco River to return the channel to its former dimensions.
The riverbed was certified as safe for transit on Monday.
“We are proud of the unified efforts that fully reopened the Federal Channel to port operations,” said Lieutenant General Scott Spellmon, commanding general of the Army Corps of Engineers.
“The partnerships that endured through this response made this pivotal mission successful.”
Six road workers who had been patching potholes all night perished after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed on March 26 as a result of the Singapore-flagged M/V Dali losing power and crashing into a support column.
The 106,000-ton ship was on its way to Sri Lanka when the mishap occurred.
There were two power outages on board the ship just before the catastrophe, according to the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is conducting an investigation into the event with the FBI.
Last month, the Dali was pulled back into port after being refloated.
According to state statistics, the port of Baltimore handled approximately 850,000 cars and light trucks in the previous year, more than any other US port, making it one of the busiest ports in the country and a major center for the automotive sector.
Two-way traffic will be possible after the shipping route is fully reopened, according to Monday’s announcement.
