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Key Bridge collapse: Deeper channel opens Thursday, allowing ships to leave Port of Baltimore

Lorraine Mirabella, The Baltimore Sun on

Published in News & Features

•Palanca Rio — an oil/chemical tanker sailing under the flag of the Marshall Islands

•Balsa 94 — a general cargo ship sailing under the flag of Panama

•Saimaagracht — a general cargo ship sailing under the flag of the Netherlands

•Carmen — a vehicle carrier sailing under the flag of Sweden

•Phatra Naree — a bulk carrier sailing under the flag of Thailand

— The Carmen, owned by Wallenius Wilhelmsen, needs 37 feet of water when fully loaded but likely will be able to depart using the new channel. The Norway-based shipping line said earlier this month that it estimates a monthlong financial impact in the range of $5 million to $10 million from the Carmen being stuck in Baltimore.

“Our vessel M/V Carmen is still at berth in the port awaiting clearance to sail once the channel reopens,” that statement said. “Planned cargo operations were completed at the port prior to the bridge collapse, and the vessel and crew are ready to sail as soon as the channel is reopened.”

— The other four ships all require less draft than the 35 feet that the newly opening channel offers. The Saimaagracht needs just about every inch of that, but only when fully loaded. The Phatra Naree needs 33.5 feet when loaded; the Palanca Rio needs as many as 29 feet; and the Balsa 94 needs just 22 feet.

— The newest channel will be available along with three other temporary channels, with depths of 11, 14 and 20 feet. The new channel will be marked with lighted aids and limited to transit at the discretion of the Coast Guard’s Captain of the Port based on weather conditions.

 

— Vessels must be operated by a Maryland State pilot and escorted by two tugboats at speeds at or below 5 knots because of the channel’s proximity to the grounded Dali. Ships with more than 60,000 long tons of displacement will most likely not be allowed through the channel.

— After shutting down next week, the 35-foot channel will not reopen until around May 10, to allow salvage crews to begin lifting steel off the Dali and using a hydraulic grabber to clear debris from the harbor’s main 50-foot shipping channel. The Army Corps of Engineers expects to reopen the Port of Baltimore’s permanent 700-foot wide, 50-foot deep channel by the end of May.

— The first three temporary channels have been in use by smaller vessels and barges. Domino Sugar, which has a refinery on the Inner Harbor in Baltimore’s Locust Point, posted on Facebook that the sugar barge Jonathan, which regularly delivers shipments of raw sugar to the refinery, returned Wednesday using the 20-foot navigation channel.

“Thank you to the Coast Guard and the entire Unified Command who made this possible,” the manufacturer said in its post.

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(Baltimore Sun reporter Angela Roberts contributed to this article.)

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©2024 The Baltimore Sun. Visit at baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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