Maryland governor says ship that hit Baltimore bridge will be removed 'within days'

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) said Sunday that the Dali container vessel that slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March will be removed from the bay "within days."

A container vessel hit the Baltimore bridge in late March, causing the entire structure to collapse into the Patapsco River. Since then, crews have been working to free the 984-foot cargo ship from the collapsed bridge and river.

Moore told NBC's Kristen Welker on "Meet the Press" that crews are working to move the ship out of the channel soon, vowing also to have the channel reopened.

"And despite the fact that people said this could take six and nine months, I'm proud that we're on track, that by the end of May, we'll have that federal channel reopened and within days, we're going to have that massive vessel, the Dali, out of that federal channel," he said.

"And I think for people who are concerned about the cost, my thing is this, the American people will be made whole on this, and we just have to make sure that we had to get it done fast and on time and on budget. And that's our focus," he added.

Last week, a crew conducted a controlled demolition that sent the crumpled steel section off the grounded Dali container ship and into the water in seconds. This marked a crucial step in the massive cleanup process to remove the ship, which has been stuck in the river for more than a month.

A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board found that the Dali experienced two blackouts in the minutes before hitting the bridge in March. The ship also experienced two blackouts the day before the crash.

President Biden has vowed to “move heaven and Earth” to rebuild the bridge, saying last month that he expects the full channel to be reopened by the end of May.