2024-04-01 19:09:52
By Le Figaro with AFP
Published yesterday at 4:20 p.m., Updated yesterday at 9:09 p.m.
This first corridor constitutes the first step towards a gradual resumption of maritime traffic in this port in the northeastern United States. Julia Nikhinson / REUTERS
A temporary navigation corridor was created this Monday, in order to allow vessels considered “essential” to pass. The container ship which crashed into the bridge early last week is still stuck.
A temporary shipping corridor among the rubble of the Baltimore Bridge has been opened to pass through the costly serial effects of the collapse of the Baltimore Bridge, port authorities announced. In a press release, the various national authorities of the State of Maryland and Baltimore specified that this corridor constitutes the first step towards a gradual resumption of maritime traffic in the port of the northeastern United States, one of the country’s principals.
However, this corridor is, for the moment, not wide enough to allow the passage of large ships and will therefore initially be reserved for buildings. “involved in operations” clearing as well as rescue. “Work is underway to gradually open the passage to more ships, but we do not have a timetable for this”, Carmen Caver, spokesperson for the coast guard, told AFP. A second navigation corridor is being opened but it is impossible to know on Monday when it will open to navigation, she added.
Also read: The costly serial effects of the Baltimore bridge collapse
The boat still stuck in place
The announcement follows the launch, on Sunday, of the clearance of the elements of the bridge, a complex operation which required the cutting and moving of a first section, weighing “around 200 tonnes”. The White House also announced Monday that US President Joe Biden, campaigning for his re-election against his Republican predecessor Donald Trump, will visit the site on Friday.
Earlier this week, a container ship rammed into the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore, on the American east coast, in the middle of the night, causing it to collapse and killing six people. The boat is still stuck in place with part of the bridge collapsed on it, blocking shipping in one of the country’s busiest ports.
The bodies of two workers who were working on the bridge repairing the roadway were recovered, with four others still missing and considered dead. Operations to find the other remains were interrupted because the authorities considered the work of the divers on the site too dangerous, due to “the weather and the amount of debris present in the water”Governor Wes Moore repeated Sunday.
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