Baltimore: A seaway is being created between the remains of the bridge – 2024-04-02 04:39:49

Baltimore’s Port Authority announced Monday, April 1, that it is working to create a temporary seaway by removing some of the debris from the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed after a container ship struck it, so ships can pass. the passage of which is considered “necessary”.

In a statement, the national authorities, the state authorities of Maryland and Baltimore, clarified that this first corridor will be the first stage towards the gradual resumption of maritime traffic in the port of the northeastern United States, one of the most important in the country.

However, this corridor will not be wide enough for the passage of large ships in the first year and will therefore be crossed by ships “participating in operations”, as well as rescue services.

“It will not be wide enough to allow container ships to pass through. Work is underway to gradually open the passage for more ships, but we do not have a timetable for this,” Coast Guard spokeswoman Carmen Cover told AFP.

(The runway) is expected to open “today, no time has been specified at this time,” added her colleague, Kimberly Raves.

A second sea corridor is preparing to open, but it was impossible to get clarification today on when it will open to sea traffic, he added.

The announcement comes after work to remove the bridge’s materials began on Sunday – a complex operation that required cutting and moving a first section weighing “almost 200 tonnes”.

Early last week, a container ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on the east coast of the US overnight, collapsing the bridge and killing six people.

The ship is now trapped in place, with part of the bridge collapsed on top of it. It thus hinders sea transport in one of the busiest ports.

Six workers who were repairing the pavement on the bridge at the time of the accident are presumed dead. The bodies of two of them were found.

The search for the other bodies has been suspended as authorities deem it too dangerous for divers to work at the site at this time due to weather conditions and the amount of debris in the water, Gov. Wes Moore reiterated Sunday.

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