U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sees Late April Opening of Channel in Baltimore -- OPIS

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday said it expects to have a deeper, temporary channel to the Port of Baltimore established by the end of April and a permanent channel by the end of May.

Traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore has been limited since March 26 when the Singapore-flagged Dali cargo ship was reported to have lost propulsion after leaving the Port and struck a support pillar of the Francis Scott Key bridge leading to its collapse.

"After detailed studies and engineering assessments by local, state and federal organizations, in collaboration with industry partners, USACE expects to open a limited access channel 280 feet wide and 35 feet deep, to the Port of Baltimore within the next four weeks--by the end of April," according to the press release from the agency.

The new larger channel aims to support one-way traffic in and out of Port of Baltimore for barge services, roll on/roll off vessels and farm equipment to and from the port.

USACE added that it was aiming to reopen a permanent 700-foot-wide by 50-foot-deep federal navigation channel by the end of May.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Coast Guard opened two temporary channels with controlling depths limited to 14 feet and 11 feet.

Baltimore is home to the second-largest exporting hubs for coal in the U.S. Also, the port sees imports of petroleum-derived products such as fertilizers, asphalt and urea ammonium nitrate, as well as biodiesel and biodiesel feedstocks.

This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

--Reporting by Eric Wieser, [e-mail]; Editing by Tom Sosnowski, [e-mail] and Michael Kelly, [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-05-24 1448ET