BALTIMORE — Salvage crews with the Francis Scott Key Bridge Unified Command team are preparing for the removal of the piece of bridge lying on top of the cargo ship Dali. Teams are hoping to refloat the ship.
According to members of the team, the operation requires meticulous planning and careful handling of the materials currently resting on the ship's bow, including pieces of the road, bridge fragments and crushed containers.
"The complexities of this next phase of operations require thorough preparation, strategic planning, and specialized expertise," said Capt. David O’Connell, Federal On-Scene Coordinator, Key Bridge Unified Command. "We have the right team making this work happen in the safest and most efficient way possible.”
Salvage teams are using specialized equipment to closely monitor both the ship and the wreckage on top of it. So far, teams have moved 182 containers from the Dali to facilitate the removal of the piece of steel structure, referred to as "section four."
It's the next step in opening the Port of Baltimore. Unified Command hopes to refloat the ship by May 10. The body of one construction worker who plunged into the water when the bridge collapsed on March 26 has still not been accounted for.
Six members of a roadwork crew plunged to their deaths on March 26 when a container ship lost power and crashed into one of the bridge's supporting columns. The Key Bridge Response Unified Command announced that the victim found Wednesday was identified as Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, 49, of Glen Burnie, Maryland. All of the victims were Latino immigrants who came to the United States from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
The state plans to build a new span by fall of 2028, said David Broughton, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Transportation. He said the cost estimate is preliminary, and detailed engineering specifics have not been confirmed.
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