Dali ship set to be refloated as Key Bridge collapse cleanup continues

BALTIMORE, Md. - Preparations are underway right now to re-float the massive container ship in the Baltimore Harbor first thing Monday morning.

The Dali has been sitting there for nearly eight weeks now - surrounded by wreckage from the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

According to Unified Command, the high tide tomorrow morning will be the ideal time to refloat the Dali and after nearly two months, the federal channel will hopefully be cleared.

Once it's free from its current position, five tugboats will escort the Dali container ship two and a half miles away to a local marine terminal -- they'll be moving at a speed of one mile per hour.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore has said he expects to have the channel reopened by the end of the month.

It's been a massive undertaking, a feat a lot of people weren't expecting to happen so quickly.

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"I think these guys are doing an outstanding job. it's going faster than I thought it would go. I thought we would be…the channel would be closed for months before they could get the ship moved, the debris out of the water, to allow for safe passage for the ships," said Dundalk resident Edward Burman. 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has worked to open temporary channels to provide partial access to the port, which is one of the biggest and busiest hubs on the Eastern seaboard for things like vehicles and coal exports.

Last week, crews used explosives during a controlled demolition to remove the biggest part of the bridge span from the top of the Dali container ship, which was a key step in moving the ship.

As of now, conditions permitting, the vessel will be prepared at 2 a.m. and catch the peak high tide just before 5:30 a.m.

The entire re-float and transit is expected to take about 21 hours.

FOX 5 will have live coverage beginning at 4 a.m. Be sure to tune in.