A 1,095-foot cargo ship has been freed from the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay after a month of being trapped.
The Ever Forward was lifted back up from a dredged hole just before 7 a.m. Sunday by two barges and five tugboats after two previous attempts to dislodge it, CBS News reported. The ship was then weighed down by water tanks to ensure a safe passage before it travels to Annapolis.
Marine inspectors will examine the ship before the Coast Guard approves its voyage to the Port of Baltimore to be reloaded with the 500 out of 5,000 large metal containers that were removed after it ran aground last month, the outlet reported. Removing the heavy material caused the ship to lift by half a foot, and it was then pulled into a 50-foot deep waterway, according to the Baltimore Sun.
The cargo ship, operated by Taiwan-based Evergreen Marine Corp., was traveling from Baltimore to Norfolk, Virginia, on March 13, when it ran aground just north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. https://t.co/cAD0S9lRFM
— WTOK-TV (@WTOKTV) April 18, 2022
The cargo vessel ran aground after sinking at least 18-feet into the mud on March 13 while traveling to Baltimore from Norfolk, Virginia, the Baltimore Sun reported. Fortunately, the U.S. Coast Guard Mid-Atlantic said the Ever Forward did not block any waterways. (RELATED: Massive Cargo Ship Gets Stuck In Suez Canal, Interrupting International Trade)
In 2021 another container ship was trapped in the Suez Canal and clogged one of the world’s busiest waterways. The ship was trapped after entering the Canal through the Red Sea caused by strong winds, leading it to be stuck in the V-shaped waterway’s eastern bank while the stern was caught in the waterway’s western wall.
After two unsuccessful attempts, salvage experts removed containers and dredged to a 43-foot depth around the ship, CBS reported.