When a massive cargo ship ran into and collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, earlier this week, it created a huge mess in the water. Now, an equally huge crane has been deployed near the wreckage to help clean it up. In fact, this crane is apparently the largest on the Eastern Seaboard.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore said the crane – which can lift up to 1,000 tons at a time – will be one of at least two used to clear the channel of what is left of the Key Bridge and the ship that hit it, according to the Associated Press. Moore added that “the best minds in the world” are working on plans to remove the wreckage. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Navy are also mobilizing major resources around the country at “record speed” to clear the channel.
Additionally, the Biden administration has reportedly approved $60 million in immediate aid for the area, and the President has said the federal government will pay the full cost of rebuilding the bridge.
“This is not just about Maryland. This is about the nation’s economy,” Moore said, according to the AP. “The port handles more cars and more farm equipment than any other port in America.”
Here’s a little more on what’s being done to fix the situation in Baltimore and where it stands right now, from the Associated Press:
Thirty-two members of the Army Corps of Engineers were surveying the scene of the collapse and 38 Navy contractors were working on the salvage operation, officials said Thursday.
The devastation left behind after the cargo ship lost power and struck a support pillar early Tuesday is extensive. Divers recovered the bodies of two men from a pickup truck in the Patapsco River near the bridge’s middle span Wednesday, but officials said they have to start clearing the wreckage before anyone can reach the bodies of four other missing workers.
State police have said that judging by sonar scans, the vehicles appear to be encased in a “superstructure” of concrete and other debris.
Federal and state officials have said the collision and collapse appeared to be an accident.
The victims, who were part of a construction crew fixing potholes on the bridge, were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, Butler said. At least eight people initially went into the water when the ship struck the bridge column, and two of them were rescued Tuesday, officials said.
The container ship, Dali, was carrying nearly 4,700 shipping containers – 56 of them with hazardous materials inside. Fourteen of those were destroyed, but luckily they seemed to mostly be perfumes and soaps. Additionally, about 21 gallons of oil from a bow thruster is believed to have caused a sheen on the waterway, according to the AP.