Baltimore bridge collapses after ship strike
- Thread starter GunnyGene
- Start date
Intentional or accident??
This is a question that runs through my head each and every time some piece of infrastructure is damaged/destroyed by a freak occurrence.
This is a question that runs through my head each and every time some piece of infrastructure is damaged/destroyed by a freak occurrence.
OP
GunnyGene
Hawkeye
Looks accidental. More here, video of collision: It's gonna be a while before that bridge is rebuilt.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ge-collapses-struck-large-container-ship.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ge-collapses-struck-large-container-ship.html
ProfessorWes
Hawkeye
There's video showing the ship apparently suffering some sort of electrical/engineering casualty before hitting the bridge.
I'm emphatically NOT endorsing the conclusions this guy is jumping to, mind you. It's far too early to be making any such judgements.
I don't know enough about the currents in the harbor or the other details, although from what they're saying the ship was leaving port, on a night with calm wind and (from all the footage of the collision) clear conditions.
That said, this means a major highway will be shut down for years until a replacement bridge can be built and operations at the Port of Baltimore will be snarled for months. Not to mention however many people just got killed (seven people missing, at last report).
Edited to include: Just watched the video of Baltimore's diversity-hire mayor, wearing what looks like some sort of high school letter jacket, babbling about how this disaster looks like something out of an action movie. Let's just say he is clearly out of his depth and leave it at that.
I'm emphatically NOT endorsing the conclusions this guy is jumping to, mind you. It's far too early to be making any such judgements.
I don't know enough about the currents in the harbor or the other details, although from what they're saying the ship was leaving port, on a night with calm wind and (from all the footage of the collision) clear conditions.
That said, this means a major highway will be shut down for years until a replacement bridge can be built and operations at the Port of Baltimore will be snarled for months. Not to mention however many people just got killed (seven people missing, at last report).
Edited to include: Just watched the video of Baltimore's diversity-hire mayor, wearing what looks like some sort of high school letter jacket, babbling about how this disaster looks like something out of an action movie. Let's just say he is clearly out of his depth and leave it at that.
ProfessorWes
Hawkeye
Major infrastructure hit, whatever the cause.
As far as vehicle traffic goes there are other ways around the area. Traffic is going to be awful through the two tunnels. The biggest problem, other than the loss of lives, is the fact that the Port of Baltimore is now inaccessible. The ship was not under command of the Caption. A Port Pilot was operating the vessel.
OP
GunnyGene
Hawkeye
Several Billion $$$ somebody is going to be on the hook for.
One good thing, if there is a good thing, about this is the time that it happened. Had it occurred between 0700 and 0900 there would have been almost bumper to bumper traffic on the span. 30,000 cars cross that bridge daily is being reported. I have crossed that bridge untold number of times through the years.
Last edited:
The "authorities" sure were quick to say this was very likely an accident and nothing nefarious. But, nope, nothing to see here folks. Happens every day. Move along.
John in WYO
Single-Sixer
Video shows smoke starts billowing from exhaust stacks (going full throttle?) as ship turns to line up the bridge support.
I'm no ship expert, but I have seen diesel exhaust from semi-tractors "rolling coal".
Who was behind the controls at the time? is my question.
I'm no ship expert, but I have seen diesel exhaust from semi-tractors "rolling coal".
Who was behind the controls at the time? is my question.
contender
Ruger Guru
First off,, it's sad for the families of lost ones here.
Next,, I'm with FM on this. If it had happened during a morning rush hour,, it could have been a LOT worse.
Next,, I'm with FM on this. If it had happened during a morning rush hour,, it could have been a LOT worse.
How does something like this happen? Foreign ship and captain (I'd guess). Not well trained? Currents the Captain or pilot not used to? Anyone think Singapor4 will pay for rebuilding it?
The Norseman
Blackhawk
Ship captain has one thing in life to do and
can’t get that right.
Is this the terrorist attack Putin was talking
about?
can’t get that right.
Is this the terrorist attack Putin was talking
about?
Most accounts show the ship loosing power. How and why are the questions. Most anything can be hacked these days!!!
I have heard the ship lost power and drifted into the bridge support structure.
Last edited:
Am I the only one that watched the video and thought the ship was going kind of fast?
Fox is right.
All major ports in the US have a pilot take control of large ships in their waters.
The Pilot was in command and had issued a SOS as the ship had lost power and was about to strike the bridge and then regained it and the smoke is the engines making the attempt to slow down; from what has been said. His SOS was early enough to stop traffic, in both direction by the authorities so not many if any vehicles were on the bridge.
I'm staring out my office window at the ship that struck the Key Bridge right now. Its about 500yds away between two (02) other buildings.
Most mornings I drank my coffee at my desk and watched the traffic cross it bumper to bumper. We are very fortunate it happened at the time it did. a few more hours and it would be packed.
It's odd to look out my office window and not see the bridge. My view was scenic until this morning.....it reminds me, on a much smaller scale, of 9/11....I went to NYC a few days after to recover funds for my company, who had retail stores in the towers. It was so strange to not see the towers. Emotions were extremely elevated then. The emotions here are elevated, that bridge was a huge part of peoples lives and the culture of Baltimore.
Most mornings I drank my coffee at my desk and watched the traffic cross it bumper to bumper. We are very fortunate it happened at the time it did. a few more hours and it would be packed.
It's odd to look out my office window and not see the bridge. My view was scenic until this morning.....it reminds me, on a much smaller scale, of 9/11....I went to NYC a few days after to recover funds for my company, who had retail stores in the towers. It was so strange to not see the towers. Emotions were extremely elevated then. The emotions here are elevated, that bridge was a huge part of peoples lives and the culture of Baltimore.
Well, Baltimore Harbor is closed for the foreseeable future. I wonder what it's going to cost in loss of revenue, and what the city is going to have to pay ship owners whose ships are stuck in the harbor.
Putting a bridge over the only way in and out of a major harbor took some really genius level thinking.
Putting a bridge over the only way in and out of a major harbor took some really genius level thinking.
Ports require that a harbor pilot be at the helm when ships enter a harbor. The folks know the harbors they work in like the back of their hand. Now they are human and it's possible one could screw up, but the likelihood is pretty darned remote.
Steering on modern ships is pretty much "fly by wire". A computer failure or some other sort of electrical failure could result in loss of steering control. If that happens you are just along for the ride. No fancy rudder propeller or thruster manipulations is going to do much in the short term.
n 1978 the Atlantic Trader, well past its prime, lost it's steering in the main channel of L. A. Harbor. It hit the end of a floating drydock, which probably saved quite a few lives, they slammed into the bow of an FFG before tearing into the dock to which the FFG was tied. The amount of damage a ship, and the Atlantic Trader was what used to be called a coastal freighter, can do when it hits things is frightening.
The dry dock took the brunt of the damage. It tore off at least twenty feet. The dock was repaired by simply removing the last section. It effectively shortened the drydock, but that was the only economically feasible solution.
The FFG was struck in the bow just behind the sonar array. The ship was just about finished with an extensive refit. The cost to replace the bow section and the sonar array was more than the refit. But you have to hand it to the ship's damage control party. They got the watertight doors closed before the flooding could spread, and that was after they entered what was left of the space to check for injured folks.
I'll tell you this. If you have an emergency on land or at sea and need cool heads that can think, plan and execute when all hell is breaking loose, you want a USN damage control specialists.
Dock repairs were quite extensive because it below the dock were all of the utilities, water, fire water, electricity, acetylene, and sewage. The repairs took several months.
Steering on modern ships is pretty much "fly by wire". A computer failure or some other sort of electrical failure could result in loss of steering control. If that happens you are just along for the ride. No fancy rudder propeller or thruster manipulations is going to do much in the short term.
n 1978 the Atlantic Trader, well past its prime, lost it's steering in the main channel of L. A. Harbor. It hit the end of a floating drydock, which probably saved quite a few lives, they slammed into the bow of an FFG before tearing into the dock to which the FFG was tied. The amount of damage a ship, and the Atlantic Trader was what used to be called a coastal freighter, can do when it hits things is frightening.
The dry dock took the brunt of the damage. It tore off at least twenty feet. The dock was repaired by simply removing the last section. It effectively shortened the drydock, but that was the only economically feasible solution.
The FFG was struck in the bow just behind the sonar array. The ship was just about finished with an extensive refit. The cost to replace the bow section and the sonar array was more than the refit. But you have to hand it to the ship's damage control party. They got the watertight doors closed before the flooding could spread, and that was after they entered what was left of the space to check for injured folks.
I'll tell you this. If you have an emergency on land or at sea and need cool heads that can think, plan and execute when all hell is breaking loose, you want a USN damage control specialists.
Dock repairs were quite extensive because it below the dock were all of the utilities, water, fire water, electricity, acetylene, and sewage. The repairs took several months.
OP
GunnyGene
Hawkeye
People wanted their shortcut back in '77 when this bridge went up. Cargo ships were smaller and far fewer then also. The politicians played to the loudest voice, and it wasn't the harbor. Unexpected consequences can take a very long time to materialize. In this case, decades.
bigbillyboy
Hunter
It is absolutely amazing how many posters in this thread are wearing their tinfoil hats way too tight. The Pilot reported a power problem well before they actually struck the bridge. Power did return but too late to turn or stop. That is called an 'accident'.
We live in an age where pretty much ANY information coming from either the government or the "mainstream" news media can be ASSUMED to be a straight-up lie. It's no wonder that people are naturally wondering if this was a terrorist attack.
