CHESAPEAKE BAY, Md. - Crews will take a new approach to freeing the "Ever Forward" cargo ship, which has been stuck near Gibson Island north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge since March 13.
Many of the cargo containers on the ship will be removed in efforts to lighten the load.
The U.S. Coast Guard says the operation should take two weeks. During that time dredging around the ship will continue
Jack Brooks at J.M. Clayton Seafood says that dredging is a concern for watermen.
"It's not going to be good, hopefully it won't be too, too bad but they've got to get that boat floated somehow," Brooks said.
Brooks says a slow start to the crabbing season is thanks to colder water temperatures keeping crabs from moving.
Brooks says the longer crabs stay dormant, the more likely dredged sediment from near the ship could travel down the Bay potentially suffocating crabs and other marine life.
"It would suffocate them and enough of it would just pile up on top on top. Again, the more they've got to do it the worse it's going to be. The stuff will come down the bay, that's just how it goes," Brooks said.
Crews says upwards of 5,000 containers could be removed from the ship.
