A temporary alternate channel has been opened into the port of Baltimore to help with the clean-up operation following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
The structure collapsed into the waterlast Tuesday after being struck by the Dali, a 300m (985ft) cargo ship, which had lost power.
Maryland governor Wes Moore said the temporary channel, to the northeast side of the collapsed bridge, would “help get more vessels in the water around the site of the collapse”.
He added that recovery teams were working on opening a second temporary channel.
City officials said the temporary channel would open only to vessels helping with the clean-up effort, but work was under way on a phased approach to resume commercial shipping in and out of the port of Baltimore.
It comes as the White House announced on Tuesday that Joe Biden would travel to the city on Friday.
The US president is expected to meet with state and local leaders, including Mr Moore, as well as tour the area of the damage, according to White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre.
Baltimore is the ninth-largest port in the US, based on overall trade volumes.
Concerns have been raised about the impact on the city’s economy from the continued blocking of marine traffic in and out of the city’s main ports following the collapse of the bridge into the Patapsco River.
Advertisement
Rail company CSX said it would start a new freight rail service between Baltimore and New York for its clients on Tuesday to circumvent the closure of the Port of Baltimore, CNBC reported on Monday.
Six road workers, who were working on the bridge at the time of the collapse, are thought to have died. Two bodies have since been recovered.
The search for the remaining four – who are presumed dead – has been put on hold due to the challenges posed by the bridge debris.
On Saturday, US Coast Guard rear admiral Shannon Gilreath said experts were trying to work out how to “break that bridge up into the right-sized pieces that we can lift”.
Meanwhile, Maryland’s secretary of transportation Paul J Wiedefeld said his department was already planning for the rebuilding of the bridge and “considering innovative design, engineering and building methods so that we can quickly deliver this project”.
Spreaker
This content is provided by Spreaker, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spreaker cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spreaker cookies for this session only.
The White House has approved $60m (£48m) in immediate aid, and Mr Biden has said the federal government will pay the full cost of rebuilding the road bridge, which was completed in 1977 and carried 30,000 vehicles a day.
The cargo ship, which was managed by Synergy Marine Group, was heading from Baltimore to Sri Lanka at the time of the crash.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:25
Baltimore bridge collapse: Clear up continues
It is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd and was chartered by Danish shipping giant Maersk.
Synergy said in a statement: “We deeply regret this incident and the problems it has caused for the people of Baltimore and the region’s economy that relies on this vitally important port.”
The firm has said it will continue to co-operate with the investigation.
On Monday, Grace Ocean Private Ltd and Synergy filed a court petition Monday seeking to limit their legal liability for the deadly disaster.
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Their joint filing – under a pre-Civil War provision of an 1851 maritime law that allows them to seek to limit their liability to the value of the vessel’s remains after a casualty – seeks to cap the companies’ liability at roughly $43.6m (£35m).
Credit rating agency Morningstar DBRS predicts the total insured losses for the Baltimore disaster could be $2bn (£1.6bn) to $4bn (£3.2bn).
Donald Trump is reportedly considering making Florida governor Ron DeSantis his defence secretary – and ditching his embattled current selection.
The US president-elect had initially announced his intention to nominate Pete Hegseth to lead the Pentagon, but there is reportedly doubt that he could clear the vote in the Senate needed to be appointed.
Mr Trump’s picks for his cabinet have attracted controversy and there has been speculation that some might struggle to be confirmed.
Matt Gaetz, his initial pick for attorney general, previously announced his withdrawal from the process.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:42
Trump pick stays silent on past behaviour
Two sources familiar with the decision-making process told Sky News’ US partner network NBC News that DeSantis, once a rival in the Republican presidential race, could be chosen to replace Mr Hegseth.
Mr DeSantis is “very much in contention”, according to one source.
NBC News reported Mr Hegseth’s nomination was in jeopardy after at least six Republican Senators were wavering in their support.
An article in the New Yorker magazine reported that the allegations led to him having to quit leadership roles in two separate non-profit organisations for military veterans.
It was the first time a US president had been convicted of or charged with a criminal offence.
MrTrump had tried to cover up “hush money” payments to a porn star in the days before the 2016 election.
When Stormy Daniels‘ claimsof a sexual liaison threatened to upend his presidential campaign, Trump directed his lawyer to pay $130,000 (£102,000) to keep her quiet.
A judge delayed Mr Trump’s scheduled 26 November sentencing indefinitely last month to give him the chance to seek dismissal.
A dismissal would erase Mr Trump’s historic conviction, sparing him of a criminal record and possible prison sentence.
More on Donald Trump
Related Topics:
The judge could also decide to uphold the verdict and proceed to sentencing, delay the case until Mr Trump leaves office, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump’s parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court or choose some other option.
The president-elect’s lawyers argue having the case loom over his four-year presidential term that begins on 20 January would cause “unconstitutional impediments” to his ability to govern.
Prosecutors have until 9 December to respond.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:02
Starmer on relationship with Trump
The filing references the pardon Joe Biden issued to his son on Monday, in which the president said Hunter Biden was “unfairly prosecuted” on gun and tax charges.
Mr Trump’s lawyers said: “President Biden argued that ‘raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice’. These comments amounted to an extraordinary condemnation of President Biden’s own DOJ [department of justice]”.
The Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg “has engaged in ‘precisely the type of political theatre’ that President Biden has condemned”, the filing added.
“This case is based on a contrived, defective, and unprecedented legal theory relating to 2017 entries in documents that were maintained hundreds of miles away from the White House where President Trump was running the country.”
The district attorney’s “disruptions to the institution of the presidency violate the presidential immunity doctrine because they threaten the functioning of the federal government,” the filing said.
The prosecutors’ “ridiculous suggestion that they could simply resume proceedings after President Trump leaves office, more than a decade after they commenced their investigation in 2018, is not an option,” the filing claimed.
Mr Trump’s lawyers also claimed the case should be thrown out because of his “extraordinary service” to the US, adding that his “civil and financial contributions to this city and the nation are too numerous to count”.
The president-elect has said he intends to nominate the lawyers who wrote the filing – Todd Blanche and Emil Bove – to top jobs in the justice department, which they criticise in the documents.
The unsolved killing of a six-year-old beauty pageant queen is still a priority for investigators, police have insisted.
JonBenet Ramsey was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family home in Colorado in 1996, a case revisited in a three-part Netflix series.
Her killer has never been found, and the police department for the city of Boulder refused to answer questions on Monday about any tips they’re investigating.
“It’s obvious that the Boulder Police Department wants to solve this case and the only reason is to bring justice to the victim,” they told Sky’s US partner network NBC News.
The force instead referred to a video statement shared by police chief Steve Redfearn, in which he said officers “would love nothing more than to bring justice to her memory”.
That statement was made on the day after Netflix released Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramset, which has renewed interest in the killing that made global headlines.
JonBenet was found on Boxing Day several hours after her mother Patsy called police about a ransom note that had been left behind.
The girl’s father John found her that afternoon and carried her upstairs, ruining the integrity of the crime scene and sparking criticism of the police force’s handling of the case.
Details of the crime and footage of JonBenet competing in pageants propelled the case into one of the highest-profile mysteries in the US.
“There are a number of things that people have pointed to throughout the years that could have been done better, and we acknowledge that is true,” Mr Redfearn said last week.
“However, it is important to emphasise that while we cannot go back to that horrible day in 1996, our goal is to find JonBenet Ramsey’s killer.
“Our commitment to that has never wavered.”
While the girl’s family lived under a cloud of suspicion for years, prosecutors apologised to her parents and brother in 2008 and cleared them of any involvement.