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Tugboats led the Dali to a local marine terminal after a
successful effort to make the container ship buoyant at about
6:40 a.m. EDT (1040 GMT), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said
on social media platform X.
The removal of the Dali marked a significant step in the Port of
Baltimore's recovery from the boat's March 26 collision with one
of the bridge's support pillars. The bridge's collapse killed
six road workers and hindered traffic through the busiest port
for car shipments in the U.S.
President Joe Biden praised the team that freed the ship from
its weeks-long imprisonment under the bridge's wreckage in a
post on X on Monday.
"It took the grit of workers and officials coming together to
get this done," Biden said. "That's Baltimore Strong."
Maryland Governor Wes Moore told NBC on Sunday that workers were
on track to restore full access to the port this month. Since
the bridge collapse, authorities have opened four temporary
channels to allow some shipping to resume.
Crews set off controlled explosions last week to allow them to
remove a portion of the fallen bridge from the bow of the Dali,
which had been pinning the boat in place. That allowed salvage
crews to haul away the twisted metal wreckage using cranes and
barges, and free the boat for refloating and removal, the Corps
of Engineers said.
Federal investigators said in a preliminary report last week
that the Dali had lost electrical power several times before
crashing into the bridge as it was leaving the port. Maryland
state officials estimate it will cost $1.7 billion to $1.9
billion to rebuild the bridge and anticipates completion by fall
2028.
(Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Editing by Frank McGurty and
Jonathan Oatis)
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