Almost 2 months after it destroyed Baltimore’s Key Bridge, the Dali cargo ship has been moved

After 55 days stuck in the Patapsco River, the Dali cargo ship was hauled away from the site of its catastrophic crash into the Francis Scott Key Bridge – a crucial step toward fully reopening the busy Port of Baltimore.Several tugboats started pulling the 106,000-ton vessel at around 7 a.m. Monday, officials said. The ship traveled about 1 mph to the Seagirt Marine Terminal in Baltimore.Federal authorities are still investigating why the cargo ship lost power, veered off course and smashed into the Key Bridge on March 26 – killing six construction workers.

But the Dali’s move from scene of destruction means authorities will soon be able to open more channels to and from the Port of Baltimore – a critical hub for commerce, especially for the sugar and automotive industries nationwide.We’ve been ahead of schedule with getting our channels open,” US Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Kate Newkirk told CNN affiliate WBAL over the weekend.We plan to open a 400-foot by 50-foot channel (Monday) and, hopefully in the next week or so, we’ll be at that 700-foot channel, which is our goal.”Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said he expects the main federal channel that had been clogged by wreckage to reopen by the end of this month.

“I’m proud that we’re on track,” Moore told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “By the end of May, we’ll have that federal channel reopened.”