Port Baltimore Will Resume Sailings Starting May 25th

May 15, 2024 Randy Young

Good news for those with summer cruises leaving from Port Baltimore this summer. Today, the port announced via Facebook that cruises will resume from the Cruise Maryland Terminal starting on May 25th. The first sailing will be the Vision of the Seas for a 5-night cruise to Bermuda.

Recovering from the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge

It’s been seven weeks since the container ship Dali collided with the Key Bridge, resulting in the destruction of the 8,635-foot bridge that spanned the Patapsco River. The incident occurred in the middle of the night, but the video of the collapse quickly went viral the next morning.

Unfortunately, six lives were lost in this tragic accident, but the losses were minimized due to the early hour of the incident. Casualties could have easily been in the hundreds or thousands if it had occurred during the day.

The bridge’s collapse resulted in a massive amount of wreckage that clogged this key maritime channel. Sea traffic had to be rerouted, and many cruise ships were relocated to the nearest port in Norfolk, VA.

Recovery has been slow, and while smaller vessels have been able to make it through the channel, there was not enough clearance for cruise ships to pass through. Just this week, engineers attempted a controlled detonation to free parts of the Dali ship from the bridge’s support towers. Once free, they hope to refloat the ship and move it out of the way, clearing the channel for larger ships once again.

Await instructions from your cruise line regarding Port Baltimore

While it’s good to hear that there are plans to resume cruises out of Baltimore in the near future, it’s important to remember that this situation is fluid. Plans may have to change due to unforeseen construction issues or weather. If you have a cruise sailing out of Baltimore in the next two months, carefully monitor your emails (including your spam folder) for communications from your cruise line.