by John Konrad at gCaptain
Salvage efforts to remove the MV Dali from Baltimore’s Key Bridge were delayed indefinitely yesterday after a high-pressure subsea natural gas pipeline was discovered under the wreckage.
Yesterday, the Maryland Port Authority held a meeting at the unified incident command center located at the Maryland Cruise Terminal in Baltimore. The Army Corps of Engineers and the US Coast Guard outlined their priorities: firstly, to open the shipping channel; secondly, to secure and remove the MV Dali; and thirdly, to initiate salvage operations “from the inside out”.
According to a source at the meeting, the salvage company DonJon-SMIT has been assigned to work with US Navy Salvage Operations (SUPSALV) to clear the bridge. Meanwhile, SCANSKA has been hired by the State of Maryland to secure the shoreside components of the bridge structure.
Earlier this week, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg assigned the most delicate task of the operation, extracting the ship, to the American salvage company Resolve Marine, an industry leader with offices worldwide.
Our source indicates that approximately three to four thousand tons of steel and concrete are presently resting on the ship’s bow. Photos of the ship visibly depict the stern elevated above the bow, and experts suggest that the weight of the bridge is pinning it to the seabed.
One salvage master we interviewed said sections of the bridge have cut through the deck causing serious…
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