Baltimore workers to move crashed freighter that brought down bridge By Reuters

(Reuters) – Workers in Baltimore were preparing to remove a crashed cargo ship almost as long as the Eiffel Tower from the canal it is blocking, officials said on Sunday, nearly two months after the ship sank off the Francis Scott Key Bridge. , paralyzing a port in the eastern United States.

The unified command organizations overseeing the response said work would begin early Monday to move the Dali freighter to a local marine terminal.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said on NBC's Meet the Press that workers were on track to completely clear the canal this month, which would restore full access to the busiest port for auto shipping in the U.S.

“At the end of May, we will reopen that federal canal and in a few days we will take that huge ship, the Dali, out of that federal canal,” Moore said.

Federal investigators said in a preliminary report last week that the Dali had lost power several times before crashing into the Key Bridge. The impact caused the bridge to collapse, killing six road construction workers and hampering boat traffic through the canal and vehicle traffic along the I-95 corridor in the northeastern United States.

Authorities have opened four temporary channels since the accident, allowing some shipments to resume.

Crews detonated controlled explosions last week to allow them to remove a portion of the fallen bridge from the Dali's bow, which was necessary to allow rescue teams to transport the twisted metal wreckage using cranes and barges, the U.S. Army Corps said. .USA said the engineers. Maryland state officials estimate the bridge will cost between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion to rebuild and expect it to be completed by fall 2028.