The massive cargo ship Ever Forward remains stuck in the shallow waters of Chesapeake Bay nearly a month after it originally became stuck nearly a month ago, and authorities are taking steps to unload the containers on the ship, the Baltimore Sun reports.
The Ever Forward is not blocking the main shipping channel in the estuary, and commercial traffic is alternating transiting around the container ship to keep ships traveling to and from the port of Baltimore. The Ever Forward drifted from the channel running the length of the Chesapeake into the muddy shallows and got stuck March 13th.
Unloading the 20-foot containers while the ship is at sea, and on to another ship at sea, is a complicated task that will require significant planning and safety steps. The initial plan is to remove a few hundred of the ship’s estimated 12,000 containers.
Maritime officials have tried freeing this by dredging around it, but that was unsuccessful. They also tried pulling the cargo ship out of the muck, but that was also failed. The containers will be taken off the Ever Forward using a crane that will transfer the cargo to a barge which will then be towed to Baltimore.
Authorities will attempt to shove the ship out of the shallows once it is lightened after the hundreds of containers are removed, which is expected to take two or three weeks.