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The lanes they have now are 11’ and 14’, suitable for tugs and barges. Heck, I have 11’ at my dock at the lake, that’s NOTHING!

Getting to that “next” to enable large ships to pass is nontrivial. Watch that update I posted just above.

The next one will be for the largest ships.

Clearing out the main channel is likely to be somewhat difficult. Parts of the bridge maybe embedded in the muck. Both the fallen roadway and bridge structure have to be cleared in order to use dredging equipment and get the deepest draft vessels through. It will be interesting to see how long it takes..

They didn’t clear two lanes. The Coast Guard went in and put in channel markers based on the existing depth charts of the harbor. One has a depth of 11 feet, the other, a depth of 14 feet. these new marked channels are suitable for tugs, barges and other shallow draft vessels.

I believe they have already cleared two lanes.

Yes, but very shallow, 11 feet and 14 feet. Tugs and some barges can pass. Main channel is something like 50 feet deep so ships cannot use them.

Part of the bridge is on MV Dali possibly pinning Dali’s bow to the bottom. Once bridge on Dali is removed, cargo containers (including hazardous materials) on forward part of ship must be removed. All this has to happen without Dali moving so that Dali doesn’t sustain further damage and possibly sink where she is.

And then there’s the bridge itself. It slammed into the bottom of the shipping channel and all of it has to be completely removed. This will require at least partial disassembly of the metal work of the bridge—underwater diving in 0 visibility with at least some tidal current and then of course sometimes the weather acts up.

So, it seems to me the MD governor is right. They are dealing with something ‘remarkably complex’.

All of this info came to me via the What’s Going On With Shipping YouTube channel, which I recommend.