Cargo ships blocked after coal carrier explosion near site of Baltimore’s Key Bridge collapse

BALTIMORE — The main channel used by cargo ships to enter and exit the Port of Baltimore was still shut down Tuesday morning as the Coast Guard probed the cause of a Monday evening explosion on board a coal carrier.

No large ships have been able to carry goods in or out of the port since the explosion near the site of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. The coal ship, the W-Sapphire, spent the night anchored and surrounded by tugboats just north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. South of the bridge, several cargo ships — some of which were due in the port Monday night — waited.

A Tuesday morning notice from the Maryland Port Administration says that the Fort McHenry Federal Channel will remain closed until the U.S. Coast Guard determines that it’s safe to reopen for ship traffic and sched