Following more than a month of complex salvage response efforts, the containership Ever Forward operated by Evergreen Corporation has been refloated and removed from Chesapeake Bay.
The vessel carrying nearly 5,000 TEUs grounded on March 13 while transiting south in the Chesapeake towards Norfolk, Virginia. It reportedly missed a turn and exited the fairway off Pasadena, Maryland. Donjon Smit was appointed to undertake the salvage, with the U.S. Coast Guard supervising a unified command for the response.
After several failed attempts to pull the ship out with tugs and pull barges, the salvage team proceeded to lighter 500 containers off the deck of the ship using crane barges. The team also dredged out around the ship to a depth of 43 feet, removing about 20 feet of sediment on both the port and starboard sides.
There were no environmental or other incidents during the period the vessel was grounded.
“A tremendous team effort with a little help from the Easter Sunday rising tide in the Chesapeake Bay,” Maryland Port Administration director William P. Doyle said in a social media message. (Photo from the George Mason University Department of Public Safety)
