Maryland Gov. Wes Moore celebrated the removal of a hulking container ship just under eight weeks after the deadly collapse of a Baltimore bridge, but emphasized Tuesday that the work is not done. “I’m very moved by the fact that I can now look out over the Patapsco River and not see the Dali anymore.
It’s a beautiful sight,” Moore said during a news conference, gesturing to the collapse site behind him. “But I will not be satisfied until I can look over the same site and see the Francis Scott Key Bridge standing again. That’s mission completion.
” Tugboats escorted the damaged Dali back to the Port of Baltimore on Monday, nearly two months after the ship lost power and crashed into one of the bridge’s supporting columns, killing six construction workers and halting most maritime traffic through the port. Crews have already cleared thousands of tons of mangled steel from the water. The Dali experienced electrical blackouts about 10 hours before leaving the port on its way to Sri Lanka and yet again shortly before it slammed into the bridge, investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board said in their preliminary report.
The FBI has launched a criminal investigation into the circumstances leading up to the crash. More than 500 commercial vessels have already moved through alternate channels to the Port of Baltimore in recent weeks, but on Tuesday a 400-foot-wide (120-meter-wide) channel with a depth of 50 feet (15 meters) will open to 24/7 operation.
