First cruise ship sets sail from Port of Baltimore since Key Bridge collapse: ‘It’s a good day’
“Cruising is back in Baltimore,” declared Jonathan Daniels, executive director of the Maryland Port Administration, as passengers began arriving Saturday at the Cruise Maryland Terminal.
The festive occasion marked the first cruise ship to arrive and depart the Port of Baltimore since the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26.
Less than a week prior, the terminal was the headquarters for the Key Bridge Response Unified Command to coordinate recovery operations, Daniels said. They began condensing their workspace down last weekend, started packing up Monday night after the Dali was refloated that morning and were out by Tuesday afternoon.
“While there is still work that needs to be done to be able to complete the salvage operation, this is a wonderful sign that the next milestone is pointing to the fact that business is truly returning to the port,” Daniels said.
Just after 10 a.m., the sound of steel drums echoed in the terminal as it began to fill with passengers eager to board Royal Caribbean’s Vision of the Seas cruise ship for a five-night trip to Bermuda.
Tom Sitzler said he and his group had planned the trip since August to celebrate his partner’s 60th birthday. They live in Washington, D.C., but had a very specific reason to sail out of the Port of Baltimore.
“The whole purpose of the cruise though was to actually cruise out of Baltimore out past Annapolis, because Allen grew up there, the birthday boy, and he wants to see Annapolis from the bay,” Sitzler said.
“I’ve always wanted to cruise down the bay and see all the spots where I grew up,” said Allen Steven, the birthday boy.
Cruises that were already underway or were scheduled in the past two months have been rerouted to the Norfolk Cruise Terminal. Steven said if their trip had been moved to leave from Norfolk, they would have rebooked.
A group of five friends from Harford County also were heading on a cruise to celebrate, donning matching pink hats that said “Friends on the Loose 2024 Friends Trip.”
“We are celebrating a milestone birthday,” said Kathy Schlehr. “We have all attained the age of 70 or beyond.”
“Not yet!” someone chimed in.
The group said they were ecstatic when they found out about a week and a half ago they would be sailing out of the Port of Baltimore. The departure location was one of the reasons they went on the cruise.
The return of cruises benefits the tourism industry in Baltimore and the rest of the state, Daniels said.
More than 440,000 passengers went through the Cruise Maryland Terminal in 2023, he said, and they may also stay in hotels, eat at restaurants and even come back to enjoy the city afterward.
“Many of them are experiencing what Baltimore has to offer for the very first time,” Daniels said.
The 915-foot long vessel with a 25-foot draft got underway after 4 p.m. and used the 400-foot-wide, 50-foot-deep channel that opened Tuesday in the Patapsco River. In addition to a pilot, it was accompanied by two tugboats.
Even though the Unified Command vacated the cruise terminal, operations are still ongoing, just back in their own spaces, said David O’Connell, the Coast Guard’s captain of the port. They coordinate daily on ongoing operations, including salvage work in the main and outside channels as well as coordinating with the Army Corps of Engineers on vessel traffic in the temporary channels.
Saturday, the Army Corps announced a delayed goal of June 8-10 to restore full access to the federal channel. Officials had previously said this would be achieved by the end of May.
“It was great all being together and coordinating operations, but it’s great to be here and see this place in a different light,” O’Connell said. “You see it lively with people that are going on vacation, going through security, the ship is out back. It’s a good day.”