BALTIMORE — Crews reopened the Fort McHenry shipping channel in and out of Baltimore Tuesday afternoon after an explosion aboard a coal ship.
The Coast Guard had shut down the channel after the explosion blew a massive door off the ship and into the water.
WATCH: Baltimore shipping channel reopens after explosion on coal ship
An Army Corps of Engineer ship spent the day surveying the channel floor searching for the door and found it just before 3 p.m.
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"He just messaged me like 10-15 minutes ago and said that they did find it," Mike Singer said.
Singer dedicates more time than most keeping an eye on the Chesapeake Bay shipping channels.
"Just imagine that much ship is in the water, and then there's only 2 or 3 ft clearance to the bottom. So about the height of your dining room table. Ok, so what does this piece of metal look like? You wanna know what its altitude [is] on the bottom? Is it on an angle? Is it totally laying down flat? So I would imagine there would be a lot of concerns with everything that's happened here. You certainly don't want to take any chances," Singer said.
The Coast Guard has put a 1,500-foot security perimeter around the W-Sapphire.
The ship is sitting just north of the Bay Bridge while Coast Guard crews wait for it to be safe enough to get on board and investigate further.
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