Dali back in Baltimore port, freed 55 days after striking and collapsing the Key Bridge

Tugboats pushed the container ship Dali into the Port of Baltimore on Monday morning after crews refloated the vessel that had been stranded in the Patapsco River since it struck and collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26.

Around 8:40 a.m., the damaged vessel, with a chunk of pavement from the bridge still on its bow, entered the Seagirt Marine Terminal. It had been refloated about 2 hours earlier and had started moving slowly — almost imperceptibly —  around 7 a.m.

Crews began laborious preparations Sunday to free the Dali, targeting the operation to take advantage of high tide in the Patapsco River at 5:24 a.m. Monday. The ship was immobile for the next 90 minutes, though, surrounded by salvage equipment, tugboats and a piece of the shattered bridge jutting from the water nearby as it has for nearly eight weeks.

Viewed from the south, at Riviera Beach in Anne Arundel County, the Dali slowly began began moving around 7 a.m. Over the next hour, the freighter progressively moved faster as it was tugged backward into the Baltimore harbor.

Jim Shipp and Darryl Mason went to Riviera Beach early Monday to take drone shots of the Dali’s refloating from outside of the “No Drone Zone” surrounding the collapse site.

“I felt a connection to that bridge,” Shipp said, noting he’s always enjoyed the tranquility near the bridge and the history of nearby Fort Armistead.

The two hobbyists had flown their drones around Fort Armistead quite a bit before the collapse, taking plenty shots of the Key Bridge when it was still standing. Since March 26, they’ve been taking drone shots of the wreckage, response efforts and the memorial for the six men who died in the collapse.

Once en route to the port, the Dali moved at about 1.2 knots, according to an online ship tracker.

Dali freed from Key Bridge and moved to Port of Baltimore | PHOTOS

Visible on the ship as it progressed toward the port was a large gash on its hull, and a chunk of concrete from the bridge, which was part of the now-interrupted I-695 Baltimore Beltway.

The ship had been stranded with its 21-man crew in the Patapsco River since the collision that killed six construction workers who were repairing potholes on the span.

Crews have been working to clear the debris since then, and one week ago used controlled explosives to break up a massive section of the bridge that had landed on the bow of the ship. Crews then had to ensure a clear path for the ship back to port, and, on Sunday, began the final preparations for it to be refloated.

Gov. Wes Moore was shown watching the operation in a post by his spokesman on X, formerly Twitter. He was on a boat, about 500 feet from the Dali, when the vessel began moving.