Recreational boats hoping to pass the site of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse on Sunday will have to arrive earlier than planned.
The Coast Guard said Saturday that two scheduled transits for recreational vessels have been pushed to Sunday morning “due to ongoing salvage operations.”
Outbound boats will be permitted to pass through between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. Boats headed into the Baltimore harbor will be allowed to use an alternate channel around the bridge between 11 a.m. and noon.
Later on Sunday, crews will use explosive devices to remove a large piece of the bridge that has been sitting on top of the Dali, the container ship that has been stuck in place since it struck the Key Bridge on March 26. The controlled demolition, originally scheduled for Saturday, had to be delayed due to windy weather.
Sunday morning’s transit windows present the latest opportunity for recreational vessels to pass the bridge.
More than 35 sailboats, yachts, catamarans and other boats took advantage of a chance to move in and out of the harbor on April 16, the first time the Coast Guard allowed recreational boats to travel by the collapse site. A second transit took place on April 21.
The local marina industry has lobbied for regularly scheduled transit opportunities for recreational boaters.
Marinas are part of an ecosystem of waterfront restaurants, bars and shops, and stand to lose out on longer-term business if seasonal and transient boaters traveling up and down the East Coast can’t make it to their slips, Paul Sanett, the chief commercial officer for Oasis Marinas, told the Sun.
