White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden will meet with local and state officials to assess early recovery efforts on the Patapsco River. He also said two offices opened in Baltimore on Monday to help small businesses affected by the disaster apply for low-interest federal relief loans of up to $2 million.
“Baltimore, we are with you. We are there to get this done,” Jean-Pierre said.
U.S. Coast Guard Maj. Gen. Shannon N. Gilreath said in a news conference that an 11-foot-deep channel has been opened north of the collapsed bridge, allowing commercial barges and tugboats access to the port. Boat traffic has been prohibited since Tuesday.
Gilreath said the waterway is a step that wreckage cleanup crews hope to open to the wreckage to facilitate larger ships and more traffic in the port, one of the nation's largest. It is the first of three temporary channels that will be deepened. The closure of the port is a huge blow to the local economy, leaving thousands of workers who depend on the port for work idle.
Temporary waterways will be marked with illuminated signs to facilitate navigation. Gilreath did not provide a timeline for when the two additional lanes would open.
Gilreath said divers examining the tangled wreckage below the waterline are facing more challenges than originally anticipated in surveying where to cut. Gilreath said crews were removing about 200 tons of the bridge on Saturday and lifting a 350-ton section on Monday. It is scheduled to be unloaded later this week.
“These are stepping stones to completing a marathon,” Gilreath said.
In a lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Maryland, lawyers for the company that owns and manages the Dali, a 985-foot container ship that crashed into the Key Bridge, say they have no idea what happened. He claimed he was not responsible.
They asked the judge to either release them from any liability for the accident or cap their damages at $43 million, the cost of the ship less damage and salvage costs.
Lawyers for Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine said the accident was caused by “negligence, negligence or lack of care on the part of the claimant, the vessel, or any person or entity for whose actions the claimant could be held responsible.” It's not a thing,” he wrote. ”
The filing does not indicate who the company believes is responsible for the disaster. The National Transportation Safety Board is continuing to investigate the cause of the crash and has not issued a final verdict, but says the ship lost power and propulsion before hitting the bridge.
Twenty-one crew members remain on board the Dali, nearly a week after it became entangled in bridge debris.
“The crew has been busy assisting NTSB and Coast Guard investigators in addition to their normal duties on board,” said Synergy spokesman William Marks. “As for how long the crew will remain on board, we do not know at this time how long the investigation process will take. Until that process is complete, the crew will remain on board.”
Over the weekend, volunteers provided the Dali's crew with WiFi hotspots, SIM cards, several DVDs and homemade supplies, said Andrew Middleton, director of the local Sea Apostolate, and Joshua Messick, a pastor at the Port of Baltimore. They reportedly delivered 40 muffins.
The deliveries, packaged by Mr Middleton and Mr Messick, were dispatched on Saturday and Sunday in response to requests sent to Mr Middleton via WhatsApp by the crew. The muffins are flavored with poppy seeds and blueberries and baked by a local mom.
One of the crew members said in a message to Mr Middleton over the weekend: “We are extremely grateful for the timely assistance.”
Middleton said he plans to send books and magazines to sailors this week. He said Messick had included a letter to the crew in his luggage. In it, he thanked the ship's captain for “doing everything in his power to prevent this disaster.”
