Port Of Baltimore’s Main Shipping Channel Reopens After Cargo Ship Explosion

BALTIMORE, MD — Authorities have reopened the Port of Baltimore's main shipping channel after a brief closure following Monday night's explosion on a cargo ship loaded with coal.

"The U.S. Coast Guard has reopened the Fort McHenry Federal Channel into and out of the Port of Baltimore," port officials wrote. "We appreciate the great work of the Coast Guard, tugs, pilots, and other port partners to reopen the channel as quickly as possible. We also thank our customers for their patience and understanding during this incident."

The explosion occurred around 6:30 p.m. south of Fort Carroll in the Patapsco River and involved a merchant vessel called the W-Sapphire that had departed Baltimore's harbor for East Africa, authorities said.

The mishap occurred near where the cargo ship Dali lost power on March 26, 2024, leading up to the deadly collision with and collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore Harbor. The collapse killed six highway workers who were on the bridge at the time of the crash.

The 751-foot merchant vessel W-Sapphire was en route from Baltimore to East Africa, according to marine tracking websites. It was expected to arrive in the Port of Mauritius in about a month. Built in 2012, the ship is currently sailing under a Liberian flag. Officials said it was transporting coal.

There were 25 people on board, but no reported injuries, according to Coast Guard Petty Officer Matthew West. The vessel remained afloat with the assistance of tug boats, according to the Baltimore Fire Department.

"Firefighters responded by both land and water, including the department’s fireboats," the Baltimore Fire Department said in a Facebook post. "Upon arrival, the fireboat crew located the W-Sapphire... showing signs of damage consistent with a fire and explosion."

There were no reports of property damage beyond the ship, according to the Maryland Department of Emergency Management.

A video posted online shortly before 7 p.m. by X user @barcodeman taken from a neighboring vessel showed what appears to be a plume of smoke coming from a ship in the distance.

“A boat just exploded right near us,” a person said in the video. “We heard it, we turn around and there’s smoke everywhere — ‘mayday, mayday.’”

The Coast Guard established a 2,000-yard safety zone around the site of the explosion. The vessel will be moved to a designated anchorage area and held there until it is cleared by the Coast Guard, according to the fire department.

Officials didn’t provide a timeline for when the federal shipping channel was expected to reopen.

The channel was closed for months after the deadly bridge collapse in March 2024, which killed six members of a roadwork crew and effectively brought port operations to a standstill. The bridge was destroyed when the container ship Dali lost power and crashed into one of its supporting columns.

According to a preliminary report released by the NTSB, the Dali suffered two electrical blackouts that led to major equipment failure hours before it struck the bridge. Officials wrote that the Dali had experienced electrical problems the day before the collision. In the hours before the ship left the Port of Baltimore on a voyage to Sri Lanka, the ship lost power twice, causing the vessel to lose propulsion and the ability to steer.

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According to officials, a mistake by a crew member working on a diesel engine part caused the first "in-port blackout." A second blackout in port was attributed to "insufficient fuel pressure," the report said.

The National Transportation Safety Board has not yet released its final report on the collapse, though officials said a loose cable in the ship’s electrical switchboard likely contributed to its power issues. Federal agents boarded the cargo ship Dali amid a criminal investigation last year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.