One week ago, the Francis Scott Key Bridge that went over the Patapsco River in Baltimore Maryland collapsed after a container ship struck one of the piers. The ship had technical issues, with a reported full blackout, which ultimately led to a loss of control of steering until it then collided with the bridge. A mayday call was made from the ship when they lost control and saw that they were drifting, with a pilot reportedly requesting a stop of traffic going across the bridge. The collision happened in the middle of the night around 1:30 in the morning, so travel levels were very low. However, there were vehicles on the bridge, as workers were repairing potholes on the road. The repair team was on break at the time of impact, with most of them in their own cars.

Six construction workers were present that night, two of whose bodies have been recovered, with the other four being presumed dead.

As the hearts of Baltimore and the rest of the U.S. are heavy after the tragic events that occurred with this collapse, leaders are pushing to find the remaining missing men’s bodies while they also push for a return to shipping operations. The governor of Maryland, Wes Moore, has spoken on the issue and has stated that he does believe the events were purely accidental and should not deter them from continuing with shipping business.

With this said, the U.S. Coast Guard has already opened up a temporary alternate channel route for vessels to utilize. At this time, the vessels crossing into this channel are only ones working to clean up the debris left in the water after the bridge fell. This is the first part of the state’s plan to eventually, and as soon as possible, reopen the shipping channel, as their port is one of the largest and most important in the United States.

As they clear up more of the debris, other vessels are to be let into the channel for shipping.

The first round of non-clean up boats are already being scheduled for passage through the channel. A number of barges and tugboats have been stuck in the Port of Baltimore due to the collapse, so they are expected to be the first to go through once enough passage way is cleared out.