The Evergreen carrier whose hull ran out of sufficient draught depth in Chesapeake Bay on March 13 after loading cargo in the Port of Baltimore, remains lodged in 24-foot deep water.
The 11 850-TEU Ever Forward, which was sailing towards Norfolk, Virginia, has proven to be a headache for US Coast Guard engineers.
The second attempt to free the vessel, undertaken yesterday using seven tug boats to push and pull the ship off the seabed, proved unsuccessful.
The situation has baffled even seasoned professionals.
Captain David O'Connell, sector commander of the Maryland-National Capital Region, said the ship had been sailing outside the channel and almost buried itself in the bank – making it more difficult to move.
"That's why it's not an easy operation of just putting some tugs on it and pulling it free," he said
Geoffrey Donahue, director for Emergency Preparedness and Planning at the Maryland Department of the Environment, said they would not risk hurrying the situation.
"Rushing creates the potential to cause additional problems that currently we do not have.”
The situation has not disrupted other freight activities in the Chesapeake Bay area.
Officials will attempt to move the ship again on Sunday or Monday when the tide is higher, and if that doesn’t work, they’ll remove some of the cargo from the vessel.
