Containers begin to unload from the Ever Forward as part of the ongoing effort to lighten and refloat the ship in the Chesapeake Bay.
The operation began on Saturday, nearly four weeks after the Ever Forward was grounded and after two failed attempts to refloat the ship late last month.
According to the Coast Guard, approximately 500 of the 4,964 containers on board are expected to be offloaded before the next refloating attempt.
The painstaking process of removing boxes entails crews scaling the container stacks to unlatch the twist locks manually. The containers are then lifted onto barges by two crane barges, DonJon Marine’s Columbia New York and Farrell 256. When the barges are full, they are shuttled back to Baltimore’s Seagirt Marine Terminal, where shore-based cranes unload them.
Once the containers have been removed, tugs and pulling barges at the stern will attempt another refloat.
