LOS ANGELES, April 26 (Reuters) - Four cargo ships,

stuck for about a month at the Port of Baltimore by the ruins of

the collapsed Francis Scott Key bridge, have exited this week

via a temporary channel, according to shipping data.

Large ship traffic to and from the port, the busiest in the

U.S. for auto shipments, has been severely restricted since the

hulking Dali container ship lost power and smashed into the

bridge on March 26, bringing it down and blocking the channel.

The FBI has launched a criminal probe into the incident, which

killed six bridge workers.

The Balsa 94, a general cargo carrier, on Thursday was the

first to exit Baltimore Harbor via a new channel that is 300

feet (91 meters) wide and at least 35 feet (11 meters) deep.

That Panama-flagged vessel, which had been at the Baltimore port

since March 23, is now en route to Saint John, Canada, according

to LSEG data.

Other exiting ships were the Saimaagracht, a

Netherlands-flagged general cargo ship, the Carmen car carrier

owned by Norwegian/Swedish shipping firm Wallenius Wilhelmsen ( WAWIF )

and the Thailand-flagged bulk carrier Phatra Naree.

The Dutch-flagged Frisian Ocean, a general cargo ship, was

among the vessels that used the new channel to enter the port

before it temporarily closes on Monday so workers can remove the

Dali.

"We're working to strike a balance between enabling

temporary access to support commercial activity and undertaking

necessary measures to fully reopen the Fort McHenry Channel,"

said U.S. Coast Guard Captain David O'Connell, the federal

on-scene coordinator for the Key Bridge response team.

The reopening of the port's main channel remains on track

for the end of May, officials said.

During the first nine months of 2023, the Port of Baltimore

was the second-biggest port for U.S. coal exports, behind

Norfolk, Virginia.

Coal piled up at terminals before new shipments were

diverted, kicking up dust, residents told Reuters. Two coal

carriers, the JY River and Klara Oldendorff, remain stranded at

the port.

Some barges carrying agricultural goods, coal and metals

will continue to have access to the port via a more shallow

channel that opened during the weekend. Domino Sugar Baltimore

said on the X social media site that the barge the Jonathan is

again delivering raw sugar for its refinery.