First Vessel Passes Channel Opened to Aid Baltimore Bridge Cleanup

A Maryland Natural Resources Police helicopter flies overhead as wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge rests on the container ship Dali, Saturday, March 30, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
A Maryland Natural Resources Police helicopter flies overhead as wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge rests on the container ship Dali, Saturday, March 30, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
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First Vessel Passes Channel Opened to Aid Baltimore Bridge Cleanup

A Maryland Natural Resources Police helicopter flies overhead as wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge rests on the container ship Dali, Saturday, March 30, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
A Maryland Natural Resources Police helicopter flies overhead as wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge rests on the container ship Dali, Saturday, March 30, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

A tugboat pushing a fuel barge became the first vessel to sail through a temporary channel opened beside the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore harbor, authorities overseeing the cleanup operation said late Monday.
Two small, temporary channels are being opened for ships helping clean up the site of the catastrophe.
Officials said the channels would initially only be open to smaller vessels involved in the cleanup operation, and would not be big enough to allow cargo and container ships to pass through.
The tugboat Crystal Coast pushing a fuel barge transited the first temporary channel at 3:00 pm Monday (1900 GMT Monday), becoming the first vessel to transit since the bridge collapsed last Tuesday after being struck by an out-of-control cargo ship.
The barge was used to supply jet fuel to Dover Air Force Base for the Department of Defense, the joint information center for the agencies overseeing the cleanup operation said in a statement.
A second, slightly deeper channel will be opened in the coming days, Maryland governor Wes Moore told reporters.
The opening of the temporary route "will help us to get more vessels in the water around the site of the collapse," he told a press conference.
This will allow more workers to pitch in toward the mammoth task of clearing the harbor of the bridge, which was destroyed in seconds last Tuesday when the Singapore-flagged Dali lost power and hit a bridge support column, killing six people.
Shipping in and out of Baltimore -- one of the United States' busiest ports -- has been halted, with the waterway impassable due to the sprawling wreckage.
The authorities hope that removing the bridge -- by cutting it into smaller sections and lifting them out -- will help rescuers recover all the victims' bodies and eventually reopen the crucial shipping lane.
On Friday, President Joe Biden is due to visit the port city, which is about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Washington, the White House announced.
The first temporary channel has a depth of at least 11 feet (3.4 meters), a 264-foot horizontal clearance and vertical clearance of 96 feet, the multi-agency task force overseeing the operation said in a statement.
This temporary channel "is not big enough for any container or cargo ships to pass through," US Coast Guard petty officer Carmen Caver told AFP.
"They're working on a plan to make it slowly open to more and more people," she added.
Work was underway on opening a second channel which would allow larger vessels with a draft 15 to 16 feet, the multi-agency task force overseeing the operation said.
The port of Baltimore is a key hub for the auto industry, handling almost 850,000 autos and light trucks last year -- more than any other US port -- according to Maryland state figures.
It also ranked first for farm and construction machinery, as well as imported sugar and gypsum, and second for coal exports.
The operation to recover the missing bodies and to reopen the port to larger vessels has been hampered by the challenge of diving around the structure, according to Moore.
"We're talking about water that is so murky and so filled with debris that divers cannot see any more than a foot or two in front of them," he said.
"We have to move fast, but we cannot be careless," he added.



US Issues New Sanctions Targeting Chinese Importers of Iranian Oil

FILE PHOTO: A 3D-printed miniature model of Donald Trump and the US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A 3D-printed miniature model of Donald Trump and the US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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US Issues New Sanctions Targeting Chinese Importers of Iranian Oil

FILE PHOTO: A 3D-printed miniature model of Donald Trump and the US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A 3D-printed miniature model of Donald Trump and the US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

The United States on Wednesday issued new sanctions targeting Iran's oil exports, including against a China-based "teapot refinery", as President Donald Trump's administration seeks to ramp up pressure on Tehran.
The US Treasury Department said in a statement the action would increase pressure on Chinese importers of Iranian oil as Trump seeks to restore his "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran, which includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero, Reuters reported.
The action comes as the Trump administration has relaunched negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program this month, with talks in Oman last weekend and a second round expected in Rome this weekend.
The Treasury on Wednesday said it imposed sanctions on a China-based independent "teapot" refinery it accused of playing a role in purchasing more than $1 billion worth of Iranian crude oil.
Washington also issued additional sanctions on several companies and vessels it said were responsible for facilitating Iranian oil shipments to China as part of Iran's "shadow fleet".
Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York and China's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
China does not recognize US sanctions and is the largest importer of Iranian oil. China and Iran have built a trading system that uses mostly Chinese yuan and a network of middlemen, avoiding the dollar and exposure to US regulators.
"Any refinery, company, or broker that chooses to purchase Iranian oil or facilitate Iran’s oil trade places itself at serious risk," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the statement.

"The United States is committed to disrupting all actors providing support to Iran’s oil supply chain, which the regime uses to support its terrorist proxies and partners."
The Treasury on Wednesday also updated guidance for shipping and maritime stakeholders on "detecting and mitigating Iranian oil sanctions evasion," warning, among other things, that Iran depends on a vast shadow fleet to disguise oil shipments.
The Treasury said it was the sixth round of sanctions targeting Iranian oil sales since Trump restored his "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran, which includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero in order to help prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.
In his first 2017-21 term, Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers that placed strict limits on Tehran's uranium enrichment activities in exchange for sanctions relief. Trump also reimposed sweeping US sanctions.
Since then, Iran has far surpassed that deal's limits on uranium enrichment.
Western powers accuse Iran of having a clandestine agenda to develop nuclear weapons capability by enriching uranium to a high level of fissile purity, above what they say is justifiable for a civilian atomic energy program. Tehran says its nuclear program is wholly for civilian power purposes.
"All sanctions will be fully enforced under the Trump Administration’s maximum pressure campaign on Iran," State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a separate statement on Wednesday.
"As long as Iran attempts to generate oil revenues to fund its destabilizing activities, the United States will hold both Iran and all its partners in sanctions evasion accountable."