Now, this is tragic. How could something like this happen? What was the Capt of the ship doing?
Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapses.
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Evidently the ship lost power and that’s why it ran into the bridge.
Apparently, the ship lost power a couple times while passing under the bridge.
This is a video of the collapse:
You can see the power/lights go off.
This is a video of the collapse:
You can see the power/lights go off.
There was a shipboard fire tha caused intermittent power loss. The captain, or pilot, should have dropped anchor immediately and if that wasn’t possible, should have called for the bridge to be closed and evacuated. Negligent Homicide charges will undoubtedly be filed, but I’m willing to bet that the ships owners are well protected from financial responsibility.
The video is wild. Also, how is there not some form of emergency system for critical infrastructure control on ships? I’m not a ship person, so someone saying “it lost power” seems totally insane in my mind that that means loss of all critical system functions for something so massive and potentially catastrophic.
The ship sure brought the bridge down. It is lengthy bridge and the damage that it suffered to one support was enough to bring the whole bridge down. It was a really shocking thing to see.
Let’s say we are designing a bridge in 1972.
It’s over one of the busiest shipping channels in the USA.
I’d sink wings protecting those supports from ships. Every bridge over every shipping channel on this earth has faced this hazard for over a century.
There are two structures in the river for navigation but the ship missed those and hit the bridge support.
Murphy is always at work.
There is going to be a fascinating story of a cascade of events that led to a container ship hitting a bridge.
You can see the ship veering, at the last seconds.
Whoever was on the bridge was puckered, beyond any doubt.
It’s over one of the busiest shipping channels in the USA.
I’d sink wings protecting those supports from ships. Every bridge over every shipping channel on this earth has faced this hazard for over a century.
There are two structures in the river for navigation but the ship missed those and hit the bridge support.
Murphy is always at work.
There is going to be a fascinating story of a cascade of events that led to a container ship hitting a bridge.
You can see the ship veering, at the last seconds.
Whoever was on the bridge was puckered, beyond any doubt.
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A maritime casualty is when a ship suffers a debilitating circumstance such as loss of power, loss of propulsion, or even loss of steering. They occur far more frequently then I think the general public understands. Because of this, and the danger it presents, we trained for these things in the Coast Guard very regularly. This type of training is also part of the annual schedule of drills that all Mariners must perform onboard their ships.
My specialty, which I won't go deep into, was CBRNE and Counter Terrorism Operations/ Emergency Management. One of the response plans that I helped develop with FEMA about 15 years ago detailed a situation similar to this one, albeit without a bridge collapse...
My wife happens to be a 20-year Marine Safety Inspector with the Coast Guard, and if she was in Baltimore... this would be her case to investigate. Her and I both noticed some of the same things in the video, and have spoken to a few of our Coastie friends in Baltimore and the surrounding area. We all agree the incident, while tragic, seems to be a terrible accident which occurred at the exact worst location it could have. It seems to be the case that everyone on board the ship, at the VTS (Coast Guard manned vessel traffic system), a local traffic authorities did everything within their power to prevent catastrophe. It just wasn't enough.
I'm sure @pappymac will also chime in since he's also a former Coasties and may have some experience in this area. I'd like to hear what he has to say too.
My specialty, which I won't go deep into, was CBRNE and Counter Terrorism Operations/ Emergency Management. One of the response plans that I helped develop with FEMA about 15 years ago detailed a situation similar to this one, albeit without a bridge collapse...
My wife happens to be a 20-year Marine Safety Inspector with the Coast Guard, and if she was in Baltimore... this would be her case to investigate. Her and I both noticed some of the same things in the video, and have spoken to a few of our Coastie friends in Baltimore and the surrounding area. We all agree the incident, while tragic, seems to be a terrible accident which occurred at the exact worst location it could have. It seems to be the case that everyone on board the ship, at the VTS (Coast Guard manned vessel traffic system), a local traffic authorities did everything within their power to prevent catastrophe. It just wasn't enough.
I'm sure @pappymac will also chime in since he's also a former Coasties and may have some experience in this area. I'd like to hear what he has to say too.
Thank you for your very well informed insight!
Could the ship have dropped anchor, and would it have been sufficient to slow, stop or steer the ship?
Could/should/did the captain/pilot warn the port authorities of the possible collision, so that the bridge could be closed and evacuated?
The worst loss is the loss of human life.
If that bridge had been full of rush hour traffic it would have been orders of magnitude a greater human toll.
But after the dead and wounded are all tended to there is a double problem.
A major Highway bridge is closed and with it a major seaport.
It’s a bad day in Baltimore, but America is coming to the rescue. It should be inspiring to watch the “proper authorities” clear the channel and put that bridge back up,,,,,better.
If that bridge had been full of rush hour traffic it would have been orders of magnitude a greater human toll.
But after the dead and wounded are all tended to there is a double problem.
A major Highway bridge is closed and with it a major seaport.
It’s a bad day in Baltimore, but America is coming to the rescue. It should be inspiring to watch the “proper authorities” clear the channel and put that bridge back up,,,,,better.
The ship dropped one of its anchors. But those anchors are more designed to hold, than to stop.
Even if the anchor tried to hold, it wouldn’t have stopped the vessel in that short distance.
Here’s a great video by a highly credentialed human.
As @ashdigger mentioned, there was at least an attempt to drop anchor to slow the ship.
"Dropping anchor" is usually an evolution that is done while the ship is stopped, and is not a procedure done while the vessel is in motion unless in the most extreme of emergency circumstances. Dropping anchor in normal circumstances is a dangerous evolution, period... without any additional pressure.
Apparently there was some distress call made, which helped to some extent, but I haven't seen anything directly from the Coast Guard yet, and the VTS unit there would have been the one to field the call. Mayday Call May Have Helped Limit Auto Traffic on Bridge Certainly that may have helped, but unfortunately there was still traffic on the bridge. In a dynamic event like that, the situation evolves rapidly, and tragedy cannot always be avoided.
The bigger question for me, and I suppose the Coast Guard and NTSB investigators, will be what their mechanical & training logs look like, especially given they weren't underway very long.
A catastrophic engine or hydraulics failure may have created a real mess below decks, I would imagine, hampering any kind of crew response. All will be revealed, as they say. I look forward to seeing the NTSB recreation video, but in the mean time, the video that Tim linked to is incredibly informative. It's amazing to me the volume of date, the depth of that data, and the immediacy of it's availability.
Watching that video I can tell you that the ship was tracking on the wrong side of the shipping lane. They should have been on the green/right/starboard side of the channel. (Not a major thing in the middle of the night with no other vessel traffic, but an observation nonetheless.)
It should also be noted, as was in the video, that the "special sea detail" should have still be set during the transit out of the channel. (This would have been the anchor crew on the bow.) It's unknown if they were there or not.
It should also be noted, as was in the video, that the "special sea detail" should have still be set during the transit out of the channel. (This would have been the anchor crew on the bow.) It's unknown if they were there or not.
@Streeper541 this is such a tragedy but I note the vessel is under its own power and unattended by a tug, normal in enclosed waters for such a large vessel? I assume the vessel would have been in the hands of a pilot too since it's still in enclosed waters but I don't see a pilot vessel either, once again is this normal?
Neither an Engineer or an Expert, but I would bet after this tugs will be assigned to this type of ship going under a bridge. I Garronte!
I'm not familiar enough with the port operations of Baltimore Harbor to give you an informed comment. Usage of guide boats, Pilots, & those sorta of things vary from port to port. I'd hate to make an assumption or speculate.
Here's an interesting article I found which some might enjoy reading. Business Insider - Modern Cargo Vessel vs. 45 Year Old Infrastructure