Baltimore salvage crews intend to use explosives to free the cargo ship Dali from the wreckage of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in the Port of Baltimore, according to multiple media reports. The blast is intended to separate a massive chunk of the bridge’s truss currently resting on the bough of the ship.
Baltimore officials said they have targeted May 10 as the date to remove the truss, refloat the Dali, and open a 45-foot deep channel to ship traffic. A permanent 700-foot wide, 50-foot deep channel will be open by the end of May, officials added.
The Singapore-flagged Dali lost power and struck the bridge on March 26, killing six workers on the span and bringing a halt to marine traffic at the Port of Baltimore (GM March 29, p. 1). The body of the last missing worker was recovered this week, according to a May 7 statement from the Baltimore County Police Department.
Alexis Maxwell, Green Markets Director of Research, said Baltimore handles about one-third of the East Coast UAN trade. Fertilizer market sources have reported no UAN or urea availability at Baltimore since the collapse, though some were speculating this week that a UAN vessel may arrive at the port by the coming weekend, with a urea vessel arriving on May 21.
The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) in late March said the bridge collapse and Baltimore’s port closure would have a relatively limited impact on US fertilizer trade, with an average of just 1% of all US fertilizer imports coming through the Port of Baltimore over the last five years (GM April 5, p. 1).
Baltimore was the seventh most important port for imports of fertilizer from Russia in 2023, with imports of $33.5 million from that trade partner.Less than 1% of US fertilizer exports in 2023 left from Baltimore, TFI said.
A.P. Moller-Maersk was the shipping company that chartered the 984-foot-long Dali. Charles Van der Steene, President of Maersk North America, told local media that if the Baltimore channel is open by the end of May, Maersk vessels could start arriving at the Port of Baltimore by the end of May or early June.