Crews scramble to build temporary channel for 'essential' ships at Baltimore port

Six days after a container ship's catastrophic crash into a Baltimore bridge, authorities were preparing to establish a temporary alternate channel to allow "commercially essential" ships to navigate through one of the nation's busiest ports.

Coast Guard Capt. David O'Connell said the 11-foot-deep temporary route will be marked with lights and represents part of a phased approach to opening the main channel. A 2,000-yard safety zone remains in effect around the Francis Scott Key Bridge site to protect salvage workers, ships and the marine environment, according to the Unified Command representing multiple agencies and led by O'Connell.

“This will mark an important first step along the road to reopening the Port of Baltimore,” O’Connell said. The alternate route will allow some marine traffic into Baltimore, he said. No ships or people will be permitted to enter the safety zone without obtaining permission from the port.

The cargo ship Dali, which weights 95,000 tons when empty, was loaded with thousands of containers when it rammed the Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday. The crew issued a mayday moments before the collision, allowing authorities to halt traffic before the bridge collapsed into the Patapsco River. However, six workers patching potholes on the bridge were killed. Two bodies have been recovered, four others are believed trapped underwater in the tangle of steel and concrete.

Authorities are scrambling to reopen the Port of Baltimore, blocked by the crumbled, 1.6-mile-long bridge and the damaged but apparently seaworthy Dali. The port handles more cars, heavy trucks and agriculture equipment than any port "inside this country," Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said. He provided no timeline on clearing out the massive debris.

“We have a ship that is nearly the size of the Eiffel Tower that is now stuck within the channel that has the Key Bridge sitting on top of it,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Sunday CNN’s “State of the Union.”

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200-ton section of bridge removed from wreckage

The first major section of debris was removed late Sunday from the debris field that has blocked entry into the Port of Baltimore, authorities said. A 200-ton piece of the debris was lifted by crane, but thousands of tons of debris remain in the river and atop the ship, Moore said. Authorities are still devising a plan for removing it, he said.

"We're talking about huge pieces," Moore told ABC News. "I mean, just sitting on the Dali, you're looking at 3,000 or 4,000 tons of steel. Sitting on top of the ship."

The bridge took five years to build. President Joe Biden has pledged federal funds to rebuild it, but authorities say they can't estimate the cost or time required until they fully examine the damage below the surface.

Prayer service held for the victims

Searchers on Wednesday recovered the bodies of Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 36, from a pickup submerged in 25 feet of water. The search for the other victims was delayed because of treacherous conditions of the wreckage.

The Rev. Ako Walker held a Mass in Spanish at Sacred Heart of Jesus, about 5 miles up the Patapsco River from the collapse, the Associated Press reported. The workers weren't parishioners there, but Walker said he reached out to the families because the Latino community in Baltimore is large and closely connected. Walker told the AP he hopes their sacrifice encourages people to embrace migrant workers seeking better lives for themselves and their communities.

Latino communities 'rebuilt' Baltimore:Now they're grieving bridge collapse victims

"We have to be bridges for one another even in this most difficult situations," Walker told AP. "Our lives must be small bridges of mercy of hope of togetherness and of building communities."