Ship that destroyed Baltimore bridge expected to be refloated, moved Monday

(BALTIMORE) — The battered cargo ship that’s been partially blocking the entrance to one of America’s busiest ports for two months is expected to be refloated and moved into port on Monday, officials said.

The Dali, a 984-foot container ship traveling under a Singaporean flag, crashed in March into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland. The crash disrupted marine traffic at the seaport, which is among the largest in the Mid-Atlantic.

“Optimum conditions call for the transit of the DALI to commence at high tide, predicted to be Monday at 5:24 a.m.,” officials said in a statement on Sunday. “The vessel will be prepared at 2 a.m., allowing it to catch the peak high tide for a controlled transit.”

Officials said they expected to spend about 18 hours getting the ship ready to refloat. The process, which began on Sunday, included removing some anchors and mooring lines that had been attached to the ship after the crash.

Officials were also expecting to remove some or all of the 1.25 million gallons of water that had been pumped into the Dali to ballast the Dali during the bridge removal, according to a plan released by the Key Bridge Response 2024 Unified Command on Sunday.

Up to five tugboats were expected to help move the ship about 2.5 miles to the local marine terminal, officials said. That trip is expected to take about 3 hours, officials said.

Crews had last week done a controlled demolition of much of the remains of the Francis Key Scott Bridge, which had been turned into a tangle of steel girders that rested on the seafloor and rose out of the water.