Baltimore salvage operation starts removing containers from ship

A section of the container ship Dali is seen with the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge on it, as seen from the debris retrieval vessel Reynolds (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner/AP)

Salvage crews have started removing containers from the deck of the cargo ship that crashed into the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

The removal of the containers from the deck of the Dali, which started on Sunday, will continue this week as weather permits, according to a statement from the Key Bridge Response Unified Command.

Crews are progressing toward removing sections of the bridge that lie across the ship’s bow to eventually allow it to move, the statement said.

Thirty two vessels have passed through temporary channels on either side of the wreckage, officials said.

APTOPIX Maryland Bridge Collapse — The site of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge and the container ship that toppled it, Dali, right (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner/AP)

“The Unified Command is concurrently progressing on its main lines of effort to remove enough debris to open the channel to larger commercial traffic,” US Coast Guard Captain David O’Connell said in the statement.

The Dali has been trapped under mangled steel in the Patapsco River since it slammed into the bridge on March 26, killing six workers.

President Joe Biden took a helicopter tour on Friday of the warped metal remains and the mass of construction and salvage equipment trying to clear the wreckage. The president also met for more than an hour with the families of those who died.

Eight workers — immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador — were filling potholes on the bridge when it was hit and collapsed in the middle of the night.

Maryland Bridge Collapse — Elisa Salcedo lays flowers in front of the memorial site to honour the construction workers who lost their lives (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner/AP)

Two men were rescued and the bodies of three others were recovered in subsequent days. The search for the other victims continues.

Officials have established a temporary, alternate channel for vessels involved in clearing debris.

The Army Corps of Engineers hopes to open a limited-access channel for barge container ships and some vessels moving cars and farm equipment by the end of April, and to restore normal capacity to Baltimore’s port by May 31, the White House said.

More than 50 salvage divers and 12 cranes are on site to help cut out sections of the bridge and remove them from the key waterway.