Damn, Francis Scott Key Brridge Just Collapsed After a Cargo Ship Collided With It

[BlemBlam]

Horrible. I can’t even count how many times I’ve been over that span on my way to Philadelphia and points north or returning. People in the water in freezing temperatures.

If this has happened during rush hour there would have been hundreds of casualties, so the fact it happened at 1:30 AM is a blessing I guess

This is going to disrupt both interstate car/truck traffic, but more importantly ship traffic in and out of the Patapsco Port of Baltimore.

Live updates: Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapses after ship collision

Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed early Tuesday after it was struck by a large ship, according to video obtained by CNN. Follow live updates here.

www.cnn.com

 

[uscvball]

View attachment 546664


Horrible. I can’t even count how many times I’ve been over that span on my way to Philadelphia and points north or returning. People in the water in freezing temperatures.

If this has happened during rush hour there would have been hundreds of casualties, so the fact it happened at 1:30 AM is a blessing I guess

This is going to disrupt both interstate car/truck traffic, but more importantly ship traffic in and out of the Patapsco Port of Baltimore.

Live updates: Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapses after ship collision

Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed early Tuesday after it was struck by a large ship, according to video obtained by CNN. Follow live updates here.

www.cnn.com

The video is stunning.

The investigation will be interesting. Maersk had no employees on board. Whomever that third party company is, is about to get majorly sued.

 

[BlemBlam]

The video is stunning.

The investigation will be interesting. Maersk had no employees on board. Whomever that third party company is, is about to get majorly sued.

They are saying it lost power twice, including the period right before it struck the bridge. It also hit from the side, which may have been an issue too.
It probably had a local pilot on board, but nothing they could do with no power. At that point it’s basically a run away train. Usually they would be able to send an emergency call to clear the bridge.

If it’s a Maersk ship, if anyone is getting sued, it’ll be them, because it’s their responsibility to maintain the ship in proper working order.

River Pilot is a really cool job. I got to be good friends with one of Paula Dean’s sons when he lived here. His stepfather was/is a pilot in Savannah. They make killer money, but it’s an incredibly hard certification process. You have to be able to complete a chart from memory of the waters you’ll be navigating with all depths, sand bars etc. but they can make upwards of $200K. Very stressful, but beats an office IMO

 

[BlemBlam]

Damn

 

[Gold Trojan]

That ship went right for the support. Who was the pilot, Hellen Keller?

 

[BlemBlam]

That ship went right for the support. Who was the pilot, Hellen Keller?

It wasn’t under power. It lost all power once, they got it back on and then it went out again, too late to send an alarm. It looks like they had got the power back on but maybe two minutes tops, impossible to get it stopped or even change course.

 

[BlemBlam]

Seems like there are only 6 people unaccounted for, which is a miracle. 5-6 hours later, hundreds of cars would have been in that bridge. It’s a Mile and a half long so you‘re talking six miles worth of cars.

 

[troypwr]

The absurdity of conjobs today is worse than ever. It's really unbelievable. The spin....

 

[4thamp1]

My Q for the engineers, this is a truss construction built from 1972 to 1977, I am incredulous that striking one pillar could collapse a 1.6 mile bridge. Has engineering improved in the past five decades to create collapse zones that prevent such an event?

 

[uscvball]

My Q for the engineers, this is a truss construction built from 1972 to 1977, I am incredulous that striking one pillar could collapse a 1.6 mile bridge. Has engineering improved in the past five decades to create collapse zones that prevent such an event?

From the overhead pictures I saw, it didn't collapse the entire bridge. Looked more like a 1/2 mile section maybe?

Here's a picture of it's path after it left the dock......



There was black smoke coming form somewhere, before it struck the support pillar, and as the lights were going on and off. My question is.....why are they all so quick to dismiss terror or an intentional act? There just isn't enough information at this time to dismiss it. What was the source of the smoke? Why did it make a U-turn? Out of that 1.6 miles of water underneath, how did they manage to hit a support structure? And if you see a close-up of the video, it makes an abrupt shift just before impacting the support with it's right front side.

 

[BlemBlam]

My Q for the engineers, this is a truss construction built from 1972 to 1977, I am incredulous that striking one pillar could collapse a 1.6 mile bridge. Has engineering improved in the past five decades to create collapse zones that prevent such an event?

I believe it has, and another thing to think of is the size of container ships has grown incredibly.

Like compare the Love Boat to these floating cities they call cruise ships these days. Same thing with container ships I think.

 

[BlemBlam]

From the overhead pictures I saw, it didn't collapse the entire bridge. Looked more like a 1/2 mile section maybe?

Here's a picture of it's path after it left the dock......

View attachment 546788

There was black smoke coming form somewhere, before it struck the support pillar, and as the lights were going on and off. My question is.....why are they all so quick to dismiss terror or an intentional act? There just isn't enough information at this time to dismiss it. What was the source of the smoke? Why did it make a U-turn? Out of that 1.6 miles of water underneath, how did they manage to hit a support structure? And if you see a close-up of the video, it makes an abrupt shift just before impacting the support with it's right front side.

View attachment 546793

The distance between the supports that designate the shipping channel is only 300 yards wide. and the ship is probably 50 yards wide

Why would you think it could be terrorism? Just doesn’t make sense to me.


The FBI interviewed the people on the bridge at the time it happened. The smoke you saw was them getting the engines restarted . The stacks are in the stern of the ship.

 

[uscvball]

The distance between the supports that designate the shipping channel is only 300 yards wide. and the ship is probably 50 yards wide

Why would you think it could be terrorism? Just doesn’t make sense to me.

Disruption in trucking for one. Because they can for two. Need to know the cargo. The ship was bearing a Singapore flag. There have been issues among ASEAN members. MAERSK stock got murdered this morning. Business sectors are major targets of terrorism. But most of all, my issue is with the immediate dismissal of terrorism as a possibility. Whether it makes sense or not isn't part of the equation. It will take time and the discovery of a whole lot more info to figure it out one way or the other.

The FBI interviewed the people on the bridge at the time it happened. The smoke you saw was them getting the engines restarted . The stacks are in the stern of the ship.

One, I immediately dismiss the concept of 100% truth when it comes from the FBI. Two, if they spoke to people on the bridge, how would they know what the smoke was from?

I saw a pilot being interviewed and his explanation, while I can't recount it exactly, was NOT engine re-starting.

 

[USCFB]

Local pilots are responsible and in charge to and from open water. Doubt it was terrorism.

 

[BlemBlam]

Disruption in trucking for one. Because they can for two. Need to know the cargo. The ship was bearing a Singapore flag. There have been issues among ASEAN members. MAERSK stock got murdered this morning. Business sectors are major targets of terrorism.

One, I immediately dismiss the concept of 100% truth when it comes from the FBI. Two, if they spoke to people on the bridge, how would they know what the smoke was from?

I saw a pilot being interviewed and his explanation, while I can't recount it exactly, was NOT engine re-starting.

You can clearly see the smoke coming from the smokestack. Seems like you want this to be terrorism when it just doesn’t make sense, based on what we know. There were two local pilots on board who immediately notified the port they had lost power. It doesn’t matter who owns the ship, or who was in the crew. That ship is being commanded by the local pilots.

You are trying to make this into some thing that no rational person would. I don’t often agree with you on a lot of topics, but I have never, ever not considered you a rational person.

And if it was terrorism they sure didn’t do it eight. Why would you bring down a bridge, and not only give enough warning for the authorities to close the bridge down, but do it in the middle of the night instead of at rush hour?

I don’t care what the pilot said, and it may not have been the engine restarting, but that smoke is coming from the engines.Sure as hell looks like the engine restarting to me.
The biggest question IMO is why there were no tug boats involved in this whole deal?


Here is a video of the chain of events.

 

[SGVFlip]

Thats a puny looking bridge support....

Our little bridges here in Cali looks way sturdier than the support for that major bridge, at least to my untrained eyes....

 

[DP'4'Life]

Don't these cargo ships usually require tug boat support going in/out of port?

 

[uscvball]

You can clearly see the smoke coming from the smokestack. Seems like you want this to be terrorism when it just doesn’t make sense, based on what we know. There were two local pilots on board who immediately notified the port they had lost power. It doesn’t matter who owns the ship, or who was in the crew. That ship is being commanded by the local pilots.

You are trying to make this into some thing that no rational person would. I don’t often agree with you on a lot of topics, but I have never, ever not considered you a rational person.

Why would I want it to be? That is ridiculous. I am opposed to the immediate dismissal of it as such. The first rule of investigation is to allow the facts to determine the outcome, not the look or feelings or "sense" about what something may look like. Internal prejudice has resulted in a lot of faulty investigations.

Jumping to conclusions is what I find irrational.

I don’t care what the pilot said, and it may not have been the engine restarting, but that smoke is coming from the engines.Sure as hell looks like the engine restarting to me.

Earlier you praised the profession but somehow you don't care what a licensed pilot said about his observation? I personally have no idea what an engine restart would look like or not.

The biggest question IMO is why there were no tug boats involved in this whole deal?

No clue.



Edit......

"The container ship Dali had been escorted from its docking and out toward the large bridge by two tugboats, the Eric McAllister and the Bridget McAllister, according to a re-creation of its path from the Vessel Finder marine tracking website.

Transponder data shows the Dali quickly speeding up as the two tugboats leave it, eventually reaching 8.8 knots on a southeast bearing of around 140 degrees. It slows slightly as it nears the bridge — but the ship also veers some 15 degrees further south — sending it into a large support column in the Patapsco River.

The two tugboats then rush back toward the stricken ship. A Coast Guard craft arrives shortly after, as emergency and rescue vessels flock to the scene."

 

[BlemBlam]

Thats a puny looking bridge support....

Our little bridges here in Cali looks way sturdier than the support for that major bridge, at least to my untrained eyes....

I think I read somewhere they were designed to withstand collisions from the water side, ie front or rear, not the side. But like I said in an earlier post, ships are three times bigger than when that bridge was designed. The ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal a few years ago was like 1200 ft long and 260 feet at its widest point. That’s crazy. I read that in the last 50 years the cargo capacity of theses ships has risen 1500%

I know one thing, after this, you won’t see any ships leaving Potapsco without at least one tug connected to it.

 

[uscvball]

I know one thing, after this, you won’t see any ships leaving Potapsco without at least one tug connected to it.

If you read my edit above, there were tugs involved.

 

[BlemBlam]

Why would I want it to be? That is ridiculous. I am opposed to the immediate dismissal of it as such. The first rule of investigation is to allow the facts to determine the outcome, not the look or feelings or "sense" about what something may look like. Internal prejudice has resulted in a lot of faulty investigations.

Jumping to conclusions is what I find irrational.

Earlier you praised the profession but somehow you don't care what a licensed pilot said about his observation? I personally have no idea what an engine restart would look like or not.

No clue.

Ok, that’s fair I guess. As for the pilot, yes, I praised them. They know about bringing very large watercraft through water that is unfamiliar to ocean going captains. They aren’t mechanics.
All I know, is there is no smoke and then all of a sudden there is, immediately after power is restored. I’ve never re started a huge diesel engine like that, but I’ve restarted plenty, or even started plenty, of smaller ones on heavy construction equipment and you get that same black smoke. Eveytime from my memory.

 

[BlemBlam]

If you read my edit above, there were tugs involved.

Where did you hear that? I heard the exact opposite. There sure weren’t any visible in the videos I’ve seen. I heard the nearest tug was a mile away.

I think maybe I need to go to work.

Do you have a link to where tugs were involved? Because I don’t see any in the videos nor can I find any news story about it. I have seen news reports saying there were nine and asking why.

 

[uscvball]

Where did you hear that? I heard the exact opposite. There sure weren’t any visible in the videos I’ve seen. I heard the nearest tug was a mile away.

I think maybe I need to go to work.

According to the info, the tugs wouldn't have been in visible sight as they had already departed the Dali. The Dali was going 8.8 knots, or roughly 10 MPH. Since the one tug was confirmed back at the bridge within 10 minutes of collision, or roughly 1 mile, it makes sense.

 

[BESCFAN]

It has been reported that the captain issued a mayday alert and that there were workers scrambling to stop traffic from driving on the bridge before the collision. The ship had caught fire which had shut down power. There is a video linked to this reply that shows numerous vehicles crossing moments before the collision & collapse. it does not appear that any vehicles were on the bridge at the time of collapse - Thank God! There were also 8 workers on the bridge at the time of the collapse doing pothole maintenance with 6 missing. What a tragedy.

 

[BlemBlam]

According to the info, the tugs wouldn't have been in visible sight as they had already departed the Dali. The Dali was going 8.8 knots, or roughly 10 MPH. Since the one tug was confirmed back at the bridge within 10 minutes of collision, or roughly 1 mile, it makes sense.

Oh, I know they need tugs to get the ship out of the dock and turned around in the right direction. That‘s with every ship I think, especially in such a tight harbor as Baltimore. I’m saying there were no tugs involved in the actual crash, because just one tug, could have reversed its course and pulled all the way to Fells point or Camden Yard. Modern American Tug Boats can produce an insane amount of thrust.

But they had no way of knowing the ship was going to breakdown 3 minutes after they cut loose.

 

[uscvball]

Do you have a link to where tugs were involved? Because I don’t see any in the videos nor can I find any news story about it. I have seen news reports saying there were nine and asking why.

"According to MarineTraffic data, the first ship to arrive around 10 minutes later is a tug Eric Mcallister. It helped the 300-metre container ship leave the port.

It is joined by a second tug Bridget Mcallister and a search and rescue vessel around 25 minutes after the bridge is hit."

Baltimore bridge collapse: Ship loses power then starts smoking - what CCTV and marine tracking tells us about what happened

CCTV video and marine tracking data shows the Dali container ship lose power, adjust its course and start smoking before hitting the Baltimore bridge. The Singapore-flagged container ship left the Port of Baltimore at around 12.45am local time. In just over four minutes, the vessel changes...

uk.news.yahoo.com

I read another report that a 3rd McAllister tug, Tim I think, was also on scene. If you check the Vessel Finder websight and compare, they were in the same place, same time, as the Dali.


Here we are several hours past the incident and there are conflicting reports of a fire, questions about whether there was time to drop the anchor (s) which they reportedly did, we know they issued a mayday, we know they lost propulsion, not necessarily engine power, and this ship had one prior incident where they struck a wall in Belgium in 2016.

The ship has a recorder so that will be monumental in collecting data.

 

[uscvball]

Oh, I know they need tugs to get the ship out of the dock and turned around in the right direction. That‘s with every ship I think, especially in such a tight harbor as Baltimore. I’m saying there were no tugs involved in the actual crash, because just one tug, could have reversed its course and pulled all the way to Fells point or Camden Yard. Modern American Tug Boats can produce an insane amount of thrust.

But they had no way of knowing the ship was going to breakdown 3 minutes after they cut loose.

Okay, yes.....there were no tugs immediately involved. Honestly, based on the reports, with as much thrust as they have, I'm not sure a tug would have had enough time to help avoid impact. The Dali was moving at 10mph. At that speed and that weight, coupled with the wind, the change in direction would have had to be immediate.

 

[BlemBlam]

"According to MarineTraffic data, the first ship to arrive around 10 minutes later is a tug Eric Mcallister. It helped the 300-metre container ship leave the port.

It is joined by a second tug Bridget Mcallister and a search and rescue vessel around 25 minutes after the bridge is hit."

Baltimore bridge collapse: Ship loses power then starts smoking - what CCTV and marine tracking tells us about what happened

CCTV video and marine tracking data shows the Dali container ship lose power, adjust its course and start smoking before hitting the Baltimore bridge. The Singapore-flagged container ship left the Port of Baltimore at around 12.45am local time. In just over four minutes, the vessel changes...

uk.news.yahoo.com

I read another report that a 3rd McAllister tug, Tim I think, was also on scene. If you check the Vessel Finder websight and compare, they were in the same place, same time, as the Dali.


Here we are several hours past the incident and there are conflicting reports of a fire, questions about whether there was time to drop the anchor (s) which they reportedly did, we know they issued a mayday, we know they lost propulsion, not necessarily engine power, and this ship had one prior incident where they struck a wall in Belgium in 2016.

The ship has a recorder so that will be monumental in collecting data.

I’m not saying there was no fire. I don’t know. But the black smoke we saw, I’m pretty sure was coming out of the smoke stack. Maybe an engine was on fire?

 

[USCFB]

https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExd2o0Nm4xY3d5N2h5eGdoazdxaHp4c2s1Znd0aDNyb2ZrYWdkaGxmcCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/ufihUj5trlJgpbIz2J/giphy.gif

 

[Pudly76]

 

[uscvball]

 

[Pudly76]

 

[SouthbayTrojan91]

sounds exciting.
On the other hand, I would lay down a bet in Vegas for anyone willing to take it, that this had absolutely nothing to do with terrorism.

 

[4thamp1]

If you follow General Flynn, he called it awhile back and indicated the attacks would affect commerce.
Wonder why the FBI tried to take him out? He knew there would be days like that.

 

[Pudly76]

 

[Gold Trojan]

While there is a possibility that this was a planned attack, without any tangible proof it's probably best to assume that this was just a tragic accident.

 

[Pudly76]

 

[Pudly76]

While there is a possibility that this was a planned attack, without any tangible proof it's probably best to assume that this was just a tragic accident.

I’m not assuming nor discounting any possibility. Tragic accident or some sort of illegal activity.

 

[Gold Trojan]

I have absolutley zero maritime experience when it comes to shipping. If a ship has an electrical power failure, does that affect the "black box"? And I would think with a ship that size that there would be a number of hazardous materials containers in the manifest.

 

[Pudly76]

I have absolutley zero maritime experience when it comes to shipping. If a ship has an electrical power failure, does that affect the "black box"? And I would think with a ship that size that there would be a number of hazardous materials containers in the manifest.

Not sure how the black boxes are wired. I’d certainly hope that they’d have some sort of backup (battery) system for short term outages. I mean that would make sense no? My surge protectors at home do.