US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Sunday that there is still no definitive timeline for removing the wreckage of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge and the disabled container ship Dali, underscoring the complexity of efforts to reopen the Port of Baltimore.
Speaking in an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America, Buttigieg said the US Army Corps of Engineers, working alongside the US Navy, is deploying heavy-lift equipment including a 1,000-ton crane and a 600-ton crane to clear the mangled steel and concrete blocking the shipping channel.
Officials have deliberately avoided setting a deadline for reopening the port, Buttigieg explained, because of the highly technical nature of the operation. “It’s not that you just have to remove the wreckage,” he said. “You have to do it in a way that doesn’t cause portions of the bridge that are still across the water to shift. They’ve been under compression and tension and could behave almost like a spring if they are not expertly managed.”
Beyond the bridge debris, the massive container vessel Dali, weighing about 248 million pounds, remains a major challenge. Buttigieg said authorities are taking measures to prevent the ship from swinging into the channel, which could further complicate recovery efforts.
The transportation secretary added that part of the USD 60 million in federal funding already released for cleanup and recovery will also be used for the acquisition, procurement , and preparatory work for rebuilding the bridge.
While container traffic has been diverted to other East Coast ports since the collapse, Buttigieg stressed the strategic importance of Baltimore. “The Port of Baltimore is uniquely designed to handle the bulk of automobiles shipped into the United States,” he said, noting that prolonged disruption could have wider national supply-chain implications.
“As soon as it can safely be reopened, that is a major priority,” Buttigieg said, adding that the port’s closure affects not only the region but the entire US logistics system.
