Port of Baltimore Reopens

The Port of Baltimore’s shipping channel is once again fully operational, reports CNN. The news comes two months after a cargo ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, cutting off access through the port and killing six construction workers.

“We’ve cleared the Fort McHenry Federal Channel for safe transit,” Baltimore District Commander Colonel Estee Pinchasin said in a statement. “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.”

To reopen the 700-foot-wide channel, crews had to remove an estimated 50,000 tons of wreckage from the Patapsco River, according to a report from Unified Command, a group of agencies tasked with responding to the collapse.

The channel’s closing hampered the port’s economy, which officials assert supported tens of thousands of jobs. The next step is for the bridge to be repaired, an effort for which President Biden has pledged federal support. Full Story