The first commercial
vessel transited through a newly opened channel in the Port of Baltimore
following the deadly collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
The Fort McHenry Limited Access Channel (LAC) was
opened as a temporary solution to provide passage for a limited number of commercial vessels into the
Port of Baltimore and a departure opportunity for some deep draft vessels
currently unable to leave the harbor since the bridge collapse.
The channel—the fourth
to be opened following the incident—runs the length of the northeast side of
the federal channel and has a controlling depth of at least 35 feet, a
horizontal clearance of 300 feet and a vertical clearance of 214 feet.
The first ship to transit the LAC is the
Panamanian-registered bulk carrier Balsa 94, one of several ships that became
stuck in port after the bridge collapse. The vessel is reportedly en route to Canada.
A few more ships
followed Balsa 94 out of port after nearly a month trapped inside.
The Francis Scott Key
Bridge collapsed into the Patapsco River in the early morning of March 26,
killing six men who were working on the span at the time, after the
Singapore-registered containership Dali lost power and crashed into a support
pylon.