Baltimore's Key Bridge Collapses After Being Struck

We had a similar tragedy in Tasmania when the bulk iron ore carrier S.S. Lake Illawarra hit the bridge causing 2 piers and 3 sections of concrete decking to collapse and sink the vessel killing 12 people.
Another train tragedy near my home was when a train hit the Bold Street Bridge bringing down the bridge and falling on to the railway tracks
killing about 83 people. My sister missed getting on that train by 5 minutes.
 

ArnoldC said:
I'm still trying to wrap my head around the astounding mass of the cargo ship: 95,000 TONS. Doing the math, that's 190,000,000 POUNDS by my calculator.

Who in the name of common sense authorizes such a mass transport? Even at the slowest of speeds, that much mass is at the least un-navigable and at the most uncontrollable in a harbor environment.
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But they sail the seas everyday ....... This was truly a freak accident IMO.
 
CallMeKate said:
I'll bet! The times I did it, I was able to [somehow, no idea how] block the fact from my mind that the Chesapeake was on top of me.... and I didn't let myself think of collapse or ships up there, or leaks, etc. But NOW I'm afraid it's *all* I would think about.
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I must admit, when I traveled it on a motorcycle ........ just as the road dropped in front of me , and I saw all that water [the bay] knowing I was about to go under it ..... a big chill went up my spine.
 
I just read through all the comments and must add my 2 cents!
1. there were NO CARS on the bridge - the "mayday" call went out in time for police to stop traffic. If you see "vehicles" - there were some repair vehicles parked on the bridge as they were filling potholes during the night. 2 people were rescued and 6 are still missing, presumed dead.
2. have you never seen a container ship? They all load like that! Sometimes a storm at sea will wash a few overboard. Yes, it is crazy but all the name of profit.
3. the ship had 2 pilots aboard but the power failed and they could not steer. Will be interesting to see if they upgrade the bridge structure.

Could have been so much worse.....
 
I was surprised to hear that tug boats are no longer used to nudge large ships in and out of harbors, an apparent cost saving measure. Would that have helped in this situation? I don't know.
 
Mike said:
Don't they have "Pilots", who are in charge of ships,
arriving and leaving port?

If so he/she, wasn't paying attention, or not on the
bridge at the time of the impact.

Very, very sad.

Mike.
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Yes, they do have pilots. They also could have used tug boats to push the ship through the channel while also having tugs on the side to guide the ship. It was the old “Someone had their head up their butt, instead of making a game plan to get that ship out of the harbor.”

A friend of mine’s brother is with the Coast Guard in Baltimore. He told me that his brother said they are still missing some workers, but because of the tides and the shifts that have occurred in the 24 hours past the accident, the search had been called off. I don’t understand much about how the Marine laws and rules are handled. He also said the Coast Guard is reviewing the video from the satellites to see if they can figure out what went wrong.

Why didn’t the Harbor Master notice the ship was off their course? He’s also in the hot seat.
 
I read that there was a harbor pilot in charge, which used to be standard protocol, and probably still is, but when the ship loses power, a pilot wouldn't be any more useful than the regular helmsman. Also, with a ship that large that hits what looks like a relatively delicate bridge pier, it doesn't have to be a crash, but just a slow speed bump. The crew could probably observe the event slowly unfold, while experiencing a sickening horror. Well, the bridge crew anyway. The deck hands were probably running for cover. It's amazing that there were only six people dead. Someone on the land crew must have been on the ball to shut down a busy four lane interstate that quickly.
 
It is so sad that the construction workers didn't have time to get off the bridge. But, I am very impressed at how fast whoever was responsible managed to stop new traffic going onto the bridge. I'm not sure how many seconds there were between the power loss on the cargo ship and the collision, but the reaction time of whoever was responsible for the mayday communication and stopping of traffic onto the bridge seems to have done an extraordinary job.
 
The FBI is investigation the bridge collapse. So the speculation about a terrorism connection may not have been so farfetched.
UPDATED IN MY NEXT POST.
 
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CallMeKate said:
The FBI is investigation the bridge collapse. So the speculation about a terrorism connection may not have been so farfetched.
UPDATED IN MY NEXT POST.
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If we look at the trail of the boat, it appears that it was never on course, or am I looking at it in a different perspective?
 


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