The first of several cargo ships stranded in Baltimore’s inner harbor after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge has officially passed through a new deep water channel and out of the harbor, the Associated Press reported. The Balsa 94, a Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier vessel, was the first to be carefully pulled past the wreckage of the bridge and the stranded Dali cargo ship on Thursday. The Balsa 94 will now continue onto Canada, where it is expected to arrive next week. The vessel was pulled through a new 35-foot-deep channel, significantly deeper than previous relief channels built after the collapse. The main 50-foot-deep channel is expected to reopen next month, after the Dali is refloated and removed. Earlier this week, the City of Baltimore filed a lawsuit against the owners and operators of the Dali for negligence, alleging that the ship left the port in “clearly unseaworthy condition” before it hit the bridge.
