Dredging effort involved removing 206,280 cubic yards of material from Chesapeake Bay that will be used in a reclamation project.
Dredging effort involved removing 206,280 cubic yards of material from Chesapeake Bay that will be used in a reclamation project.
The Ever Forward container ship is finally living up to its name again, after running aground five weeks ago in the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland.
The 2-year-old Hong Kong-flagged vessel was heading to Norfolk, Virginia, and missed a turn while leaving the Port of Baltimore. As a result, it ended up stuck in the mud of the shallow waters of the Chesapeake Bay, according to NPR.
The ship’s owner, Evergreen Marine Corp., teamed with the U.S. Coast Guard, Maryland Department of the Environment and other state and local emergency service agencies, freed the 1,095-foot vessel on April 17 from the Chesapeake Bay’s Craighill Channel.
The Ever Forward’s five-week stay in the Chesapeake Bay came nearly one year after another ship also owned by the Evergreen Marine Corp., the Ever Given container ship, was stuck in the Suez Canal for six days, resulting in worldwide trade disruption costing potentially close to $10 billion, the BBC cited German insurer Allianz as saying. This time, however, the Ever Forward ship didn’t disrupt any other ships from passing through the channel involved.
U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Dave O’Connell told NPR in an interview that the Ever Forward needed a depth of 42 feet of water in order to operate, but the waters where it got stuck were only 24 feet deep.
A dredging effort was completed to a depth of 43 feet, and 206,280 cubic yards of material from it were taken to Poplar Island, nearly 25 miles south of where the Ever Forward was stuck, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Once the dredging was completed, two refloating attempts failed, leading the experts to determine that they would not be able to overcome the weight of the Ever Forward, which was loaded with 4,964 containers. Crane barges removed 500 containers from the ship to lighten the load, and on Easter Sunday, two pulling barges, six tug boats and a rising tide from the April full moon all helped to free the vessel, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement
“The vastness and complexity of this response were historic, as an incident like the Ever Forward grounding, in type and duration, is a rare occurrence,” said O’Connell. commander of the Coast Guard Sector Maryland-National Capital Region. “It was the collaboration of each responding agency, Evergreen Marine Corporation and dedicated responders that resulted in the successful refloating of Ever Forward while ensuring the safety of the public and response personnel, mitigating pollution potential and minimizing economic impacts.”
The ship will be towed to the Annapolis Anchorage Grounds for inspection. Containers that were removed will be reloaded, and the vessel will eventually continue its voyage to Norfolk.
“We are deeply appreciative of the efforts put forth by the U.S. Coast Guard, Maryland Port Administration, local and federal Environmental Protection Agencies, and the many private service providers that were engaged, all of whom worked tirelessly to bring this event to a successful conclusion,” Evergreen Line representatives said in a corporate statement.
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Edited by Richard Pretorius and Matthew B. Hall
