Dan Cowens had seen the remains of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge on television. Looking at the wreckage with his own eyes, however, jolted all of his senses. “Shocking is a good term to use, particularly when you know the skyline,” he says. “If you’ve been on that bridge or under that bridge by boat, to see something that’s such a fixture in the skyline be disrupted is shocking.” As the founder of Oasis Marinas, Cowens has three properties for large yachts “inside” the damage. Having these superyacht marinas cut off by the Baltimore bridge collapse means owners and captains along the Eastern Seaboard cannot access the slips.
In fact, ever since a cargo ship crashed into the bridge on March 26, the Oasis Marinas teams have been trying to figure out how to help superyacht clients with plans to be in Baltimore this spring. Those teams are at Inner Harbor Marina, Lighthouse Point Marina, and Harbor East Marina. So far, Cowens says, the only thing they know for sure is that everyone needs to be patient.
He likens the situation to when Covid initially shut down activities like boating “and we didn’t know,” he says. “Back then, we kept our eye on Memorial Day weekend, because that’s when it really significantly impacts us.” Things this time, though, are a bit different. Superyachts tend to head to the Northeast “in May or early June at the latest,” Cowens explains, “so the countdown clock is a little sooner than Memorial Day.”
As of press time, bridge-cleanup crews had managed to open two channels. One is 11 feet (3.4 meters) deep, while the other is 14 feet (4.3 meters) deep. This therefore gives smaller vessels a path to get into and out of the Port of Baltimore. Multiple news outlets were reporting that a third channel 20 to 25 feet (6.1 to 7.6 meters) deep was in the works. But, the main channel, 50 feet (15.2 meters) deep, may remain closed until crews remove the ship and other debris. There are no estimates on that timing. Currently, the ship rests on the bottom, with a gas pipeline below it. Furthermore, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says, “the state of that wreckage makes it very difficult to figure out where to cut and how to cut.”
Besides these superyacht marinas cut off by the Baltimore bridge collapse, the separately owned Harborview Marina & Yacht Club is impacted. It takes yachts up to 300 feet (91.4 meters) long. Its representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
Cowens says his teams have been working with owners and captains to figure out what’s important to them. The teams then make alternative recommendations. “Maybe they wanted to take in 40,000 gallons of fuel,” Cowens says. “We would say rather than waiting until they get up here, why don’t we arrange for you to take in bunkered fuel in Cape Charles, Virginia, at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, and then we would work with the team in Cape Charles.”
In some cases, he adds, the alternative locations don’t belong to Oasis Marinas. “We’re trying to satisfy the needs of the boater with no regard to us,” Cowens explains. “Let’s say, for example, the vessel is making its way to New England, and the crew and the captain want to stop and provision in Baltimore. They want to spend a week or two in Baltimore and then head to the Northeast. We will talk to them about alternative locations from the Inner Harbor that they can do the same thing.”
So far, Cowens says, superyacht captains and owners have been understanding. “They’re disappointed that they can’t do what their plan was, but they’re very appreciative of the assistance,” he notes. Oasis Marinas has created a special page where it posts the latest information for boaters. The FAQ section changes as new questions arise.
In the meantime, Cowens says conversations are starting about how to avoid this kind of problem in the future. Those discussions, though, have not begun in earnest. “If the data comes out and shows some kind of one-in-a-thousand anomaly, there may not have been anything to plan for this,” he says.
Ultimately, as much as he doesn’t want to see superyacht marinas cut off again, he believes the proper priorities are in order. “Everyone is doing a nice job at tabling those questions and staying focused on first things first,” Cowens says. “The first thing is recovery and the investigation and making sure the families and those that are directly impacted have support, and then moving into cleanup and what’s next.”
Oasis Marinas oasismarinas.com
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