Dali container removal to take weeks, key to Baltimore port’s reopening | Wilnesh News

The process of removing containers from the 984-foot-long Dali has begun, but it is expected to take weeks to complete the work, tow the tilted vessel and reopen the Port of Baltimore to marine traffic after the Bride collapse. March 26th.

Key Bridge Response 2024 A spokesman for the Joint Information Center told CNBC that seven containers have been removed since the unified command began clearing the canal on Sunday and eventually reopening it to container traffic. The initial goal is to remove 10 to 12 containers to create a safe work area for crews involved in rescuing missing workers and removing debris. The container being dismantled was tilted to the port side of the Dali’s bow, posing a risk to crew members working in the area.

The unified command consists of Synergy Marine, the company that manages the Dali, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Maryland Department of Environment, the Maryland Transportation Authority and the Maryland State Police.

A total of about 140 containers are expected to be removed to lighten the Dali so that the stranded vessel can be refloated and moved by tugboats. It is expected to take approximately two weeks to unload all the containers.

The first seven containers were loaded on a barge and headed to Sparrows Point, the former site of a large industrial complex owned by Bethlehem Steel. Sparrows Point is a 3,100-acre peninsula that extends into Baltimore Harbor. JIC said the containers would remain at Sparrows Point until “further disposal is approved and coordinated”.

According to China Construction Investment Corporation, barges loaded with containers have different container carrying capacities.

Logistics details for clearing the containers are still being discussed, with JIC telling CNBC its “current intention” is to send them to CSX terminals.

A CSX spokesperson told CNBC that the freight railroad has expressed its willingness and desire to help Baltimore resume work and said conversations are ongoing, but added, “We have no significant updates to report at this time.”

CSX is the first railroad to provide rail service for containers diverted due to accidents and the closure of the Port of Baltimore.

Once the Dali is refloated and no longer listing, tugboats will move the vessel to the CSX terminal in the Port of Baltimore. How many tugboats will be needed to move the Dali remains to be determined, according to United Investments. “Currently awaiting and planning,” the company said in an email to CNBC.

Removing the wreckage and ships is key to the reopening of the Port of Baltimore, the largest U.S. port for importing and exporting automobiles and a key trading center for clothing, home furnishings, building materials, electronics and appliances, and production. Last week, engineers said the goal was to restore “normal traffic capacity” to the 700-foot-wide, 50-foot-deep main channel and the Port of Baltimore by the end of May.

Aaron Roth, a retired Coast Guard captain and head of the Chertoff Group, previously told CNBC that there will be a telltale sign when the channel is ready to open.

“Once you see the plan to move the Dali from port, you know the channel is ready to open,” Ross said. “At the same time, as we saw in the Red Sea, the system will adjust. The economy knows best , the economy will absorb it,” he said.

The new channel is currently open to small commercial vessels, including those involved in rescue efforts, which are significantly lighter and smaller. The Coast Guard’s allowed vessel length is 96 feet, but the Dali, which hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge after losing navigational control and destroying critical infrastructure, was 984 feet long.

A tugboat pushing a fuel barge was the first vessel to use the alternate channel to get around the bridge’s wreckage. The barge carries jet fuel for the Department of Defense, first heading to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.