by Mike Schuler at gCaptain
The Captain of the Port (COTP) has established a second temporary channel on the southwest side of the main Fort McHenry Channel near Hawkins Point for essential commercial vessels.
The second temporary channel is marked with lighted federal aids for navigation and its use is at the discretion of the COTP and limited to daylight hours. The channel has a controlling depth of 14 feet, a horizontal clearance of 280 feet, and a vertical clearance of 124 feet—which is slightly larger than the 11-ft-deep, 264-ft-wide, and 95-ft-tall clearance of the first channel that opened yesterday, but significantly less than the 50-foot main channel that is closed.
“The opening of these two alternate channels and transit of critical response resources, as well as the first commercial traffic movements through the area, is a significant milestone in our response efforts,” said U.S. Coast Guard Cmdr. Baxter Smoak, operations section chief of the Key Bridge Response 2024. “Our number one priority remains the opening of the deep draft channel. We are simultaneously focused on opening additional routes of increased capacity as we move forward.”…
Continue Reading