Baltimore reopens main shipping channel that closed after bridge collapse

Officials working to restore Maryland's Francis Scott Key Bridge announced the full reopening of the federal channel that leads into the port of Baltimore on Monday, saying the work to restore the channel to its operating conditions had been completed. 

The port was closed after the container ship Dali collided with one of the bridge's main support columns in March, resulting in the bridge's collapse. The incident killed six workers on the bridge.

The channel had been blocked by the fallen bridge and the container ship, but was reopened in phases. Before the full opening, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and U.S. Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving had opened the channel to 50 feet deep and 400 feet wide. The full channel is 700 feet wide and 50 feet deep, according to a news release.

“We’ve cleared the Fort McHenry Federal Channel for safe transit. USACE will maintain this critical waterway as we have for the last 107 years,” Col. Estee Pinchasin, Baltimore District commander, said in a statement at the time. “I cannot overstate how proud I am of our team. It was incredible seeing so many people from different parts of our government, from around our country and all over the world, come together in the Unified Command and accomplish so much in this amount of time.”

Pinchasin added that the crew thought of the people who were killed in the incident when working to reopen the port. 

“Although the overarching goal to restore full operational capacity to the Federal Channel was successful, each day, we thought of those who lost their lives, their families, and the workers impacted by this tragic event,” Pinchasin said. “Not a day went by that we didn’t think about all of them, and that kept us going.”

The operation to restore the channel included collaboration between 56 federal, state and local agencies, including roughly 500 specialists from around the world who operated a fleet of 18 barges, 22 tugboats, 13 floating cranes, 10 excavators and four survey boats.

The port of Baltimore processes more cars and farm equipment than any other in the country, and contributes greatly to the economic conditions of the city, according to the Associated Press. As a result of the closure thousands of longshoremen, truckers, and small business owners have been impacted by the incident.

Officials said they hope to rebuild the bridge by 2028.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just the News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.