Port of Baltimore workers eager to get back to work after Dali removed from shipping channel

By Kim Dacey

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    SPARROWS POINT, Maryland (WBAL) — Port of Baltimore workers are looking forward to a return to some normalcy as operations slowly resume after the Dali cargo ship was removed from the shipping channel.

The Key Bridge Response Unified Command said the shipping channel should be clear to 400 feet wide by the end of Tuesday, with the full 700-foot channel open by the end of next week.

Port workers are relieved cargo ships are already starting to return. For eight weeks, longshoremen have been largely out of work since the Dali struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing its collapse.

“It’s unbelievable. Nobody would’ve ever believed something like this would’ve happened,” Longshoremen Tom Muir told 11 News.

The shipping channel to the port nearly closed as the Dali was stuck in the bridge wreckage. Crews were able to re-float the Dali on Monday and docked it at the Seagirt Marine Terminal, marking a big step toward returning port traffic to normal.

Scott Cowan, president of the Local 333, International Longshoremen’s Association in the Port of Baltimore, told 11 News that workers are happy and relieved their work is starting to resume.

“We had some ships over the weekend. We’re getting a little bit better, so we’re hoping that we have back to full capacity by sometime in June,” Cowan told 11 News.

“Over the next week, we expect another 20 vessels and barges to come through the port’s public terminals, but I want to be very, very clear this morning: The mission is not over,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said at a news conference Tuesday morning.

Crews will continue clearing debris from the water until the 700-foot-wide, 50-foot-deep main channel can reopen, hopefully by the end of next week.

The longshoremen said they are grateful for the quick work of the Unified Command.

“The speed of the port opening, the channel back up, also protects the cargo that was coming here to the port,” Cowan said of cargo that was diverted to other ports. “The longer that the break in the cargo coming here would be the more, I would say, the more vulnerable we are to losing that cargo to another port.”

Tom Muir told 11 News he misses coming to work at the port and is anxious to get back to normal.

“I mean, it’s the greatest thing that could happen. Everybody, you know, can’t wait to get back to work,” Muir said.

Even once the 700-foot channel reopens, the work isn’t over. Crews will continue to work on the areas on either side of the shipping channel, hoping to complete that in June.

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