Maersk Mulls Baltimore Barge Service

Maersk may resume some shipping services at the Port of Baltimore when a temporary channel is opened to give access for commercially essential vessels that remain blocked by a collapsed bridge, the company said.

"This channel, with a controlling depth of 20 feet, could potentially allow Maersk and other carriers to operate limited barge services into and out of the Port of Baltimore," Maersk said in a statement.

The group last Wednesday said the port's alternate shipping channels were not deep enough to accommodate the oceangoing container vessels that Maersk and other carriers use.

The Singapore-flagged Dali, container ship chartered by the Danish group collided with the Baltimore's harbor bridge last month, causing the structure to collapse. The vessel is owned by Grace Ocean Pte Ltd and managed by Synergy Marine Group.

(Reuters reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, editing by Terje Solsvik)