Workers dismantle the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on Thursday. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)
Salvage crews on Sunday began removing containers from the deck of the Dali container ship, which has been trapped in the Patapsco River since it crashed into and collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge two weeks ago.
A spokesperson for Unified Command, a conglomerate of government agencies leading the bridge response efforts, said the containers were being moved by barge cranes.
The Dali and its hundreds of shipping containers had departed the Port of Baltimore on March 26 and were destined for Sri Lanka. But when the Dali toppled the Key Bridge, the roadway’s massive steel trusses fell onto the bow of the ship and trapped it.
In the past week, cleanup crews have been slowly evaluating the mangled wreckage atop the ship and beneath the water’s surface, cutting it into chunks and carefully removing it one piece at a time.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that the cleanup crew had removed more than 250 tons of debris from the river - equivalent to the weight of the Statue of Liberty.
Moore has said that officials plan to tackle the recovery efforts in phases, by clearing the debris, moving the Dali to shore and, eventually, rebuilding the Key Bridge, all while prioritizing the victims of the tragedy by locating and removing the bodies of all of the construction workers who were killed in the collapse.
So far, the bodies of three victims - Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35; Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26; and Maynor Suazo Sandoval, 38 - have been recovered from the river, authorities said. Three others are still missing. “The state is still heartbroken,” Moore said on “Face the Nation.” “We lost six Marylanders.”
The governor said officials would “do everything in our power to make sure we’re bringing closure and comfort to these families.”
Moore reiterated the pledge President Biden made during a visit to Baltimore last week that the Port of Baltimore will be reopened by the end of May.
“It’s going to be a 24/7 operation,” Moore said. “It is an aggressive timeline, but we are going to work around-the-clock to make sure that we hit this timeline.”
In a separate interview Sunday on MSNBC, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg talked about a plan the Army Corps of Engineers released last week to open a 35-foot deep channel to the Port of Baltimore by the end of April. The secretary said that would allow some vessels to pass from the bay to the port and some port employees to return to work.
“That’s not the same as having it totally clear,” Buttigieg said, “but it’s an important step on the road back to normal.”
The Transportation Department has already released $60 million to begin recovery and rebuilding efforts, but the secretary said that is “just a fraction of what it will take to replace that bridge.”
When asked about total cost Sunday on “Face the Nation,” Moore said: “We don’t yet know what the price tag is going to be.”
Biden, Buttigieg, Moore and the Maryland congressional delegation have called for bipartisanship as officials work to acquire the money necessary to clean up, rebuild and keep commerce and jobs alive at the Port of Baltimore.
The Biden administration sent a letter to Congress on Friday requesting funding for the entire cost of rebuilding a new span. Moore is scheduled to lobby federal lawmakers himself on Tuesday during a trip to Capitol Hill.
Moore said on “Face the Nation” that it’s critical the federal government front the initial money required to quickly and safely rebuild the bridge and the port’s economy, but that he wants accountability from the Dali’s owner and operator if the National Transportation Safety Board finds fault during its independent investigation of the crash.
“If they are deemed liable and responsible for what happened,” Moore said, “then they need to be responsible for helping with that cleanup.”
Azi Paybarah contributed to this report.
