The Unified Command announced a plan to move the cargo ship Dali, which hit and destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge, from its current location to a local marine terminal.
If "optimum conditions" are in place, the process is set to begin at around 5 a.m. at high tide on Monday.
“Safety remains the Unified Command’s emphasis, as it has been during the execution of all tasks in the nearly eight weeks of salvage operations,” officials said in a press release.
Once the ship is free of its current position, tugboats will escort it to a marine terminal 2.5 miles away. The entire move, from refloating to transit, will take an estimated 21 hours, officials said.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a graphic below that visualizes the process.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said the focus is on moving the ship quickly and on budget during an appearance on "Meet the Press."
“Despite the fact that people said this could take six and nine months, I'm proud that that we're on track that by the end of May, we'll have that federal channel reopened,” Moore said.
Moore said the Dali would be out of the channel within days.
Last week, crews used explosives in the partial demolition of the largest remaining steel span of Baltimore's collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge Monday evening.
The loud explosion, captured by a News4 camera about a half mile away, broke apart the span, knocking a large, mangled portion of the steel bridge off the bow of the container ship Dali. That portion of the bridge remains visible above the Patapsco River.
Some steel beams remain embedded in the bow, and part of the roadway is still on the Dali.
News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.
