In Baltimore, dredgers are now digging up mud, all day and all night to free the Ever Forward which is stuck in the mud ever since a week. The U.S. Coast Guard was quick enough to act and coordinated the jumbo rescue effort. The cargo ship is now stranded in the Chesapeake Bay for a week now.
Donjon Smit, the salvor engaged by the shipper and Cashman Dredging & Marine Construction began dredging around the 334-meter Ever Forward on Sunday, and the work is expected to continue throughout the week. A Coast Guard Officer is quoted saying that the grounded vessel is stable, poses no pollution threat and isn’t impacting Port of Baltimore operations.
William Doyle, Baltimore Port Executive Director who is overseeing the dredging activities said dredged materials will be used to help rebuild, Poplar island located off the Eastern Shore. Poplar Island which has suffered from severe erosion will stand to benefit from this dredging as the mud and silt will be used to reinforce the banks and shores.
The Ever Forward was headed from the Port of Baltimore to Norfolk, Virginia, on March 13 when it ran aground north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The ship, operated by Taiwan-based Evergreen Marine Corp., became stranded outside the shipping channel. No injuries, damage or pollution was reported ever since.
Post dredging the bay’s muddy floor and after releasing the ballast to lighten the load, tugboats will be used in addition to the ship’s main engine’s power to free the vessel. Hopefully, if all goes well, the mammoth ship will be pulled free from the mud to traverse the oceans again.
The Coast Guard has said officials have not yet determined what caused the Ever Forward to run aground. The ship isn’t blocking navigation in the channel, unlike last year’s high-profile grounding in the Suez Canal of its sister vessel, the Ever Given, which disrupted the global supply chain for days.
