The Dali, managed by Synergy and chartered by Maersk, lost power on March 26, causing it to crash into Baltimore’s longest bridge. The collision brought down the bridge, tragically killing six road maintenance workers.
Officials reported that the demolition went as planned. Next, crews will assess the remaining bridge debris on the ship’s bow and ensure there are no underwater obstructions preventing the Dali from being refloated and moved.
“It’s a lot like peeling back an onion,” said Lieutenant General Scott Spellmon of the US Army Corps of Engineers.
At a news conference earlier in the day, officials expressed hope that the ship could be moved within two days.
“After we perform the precision cutting, we will resurvey the channel and the area around the Dali to ensure there are no obstructions from the cutting that could hinder traffic,” explained US Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath. “We will then reopen the limited-access channel to traffic.”
Once assessments and surveys are complete, the plan is to remove ballast to make the ship buoyant and use four tugboats to pull it into the channel and escort it to a nearby pier.
Additional wreckage and containers will be removed from the Dali at the pier, where the ship will undergo temporary repairs before more permanent ones can be made.
“Hopefully, we will refloat the Dali in the next few days. We still anticipate opening the full channel by the end of the month,” said US Coast Guard captain David O’Connell.