[NomadSK]

A large chunk of a 1.6-mile-long bridge was seen in a video completely collapsing into the water after a cargo ship collided with a pillar. Rescue efforts are ongoing.

Built in 1977, the bridge is referred to locally as the Key Bridge. It is one of the longest continuous truss bridges in the world, according to the National Steel Bridge Alliance.

Now this is Scary

Vehicles can be seen in the footage falling from the bridge.

Link

[GTX+]

According to this tweet, it appears to be an engine/equipment failure. Going by the signs it does appear to be one. Although human error and/or a deliberate attempt cannot be ruled out at this stage.

https://x.com/RakitaMode/status/1772...693090428?s=20

Of course, this is all speculation at this stage and the exact cause will be determined through investigation.

Originally Posted by NomadSK

Vehicles can be seen in the footage falling from the bridge.

It looks like there were some vehicles stationary on the bridge which fell down. A truck/large vehicle can be seen moving from right to left, had a narrow escape as it cleared just moments before the ship crashed in to the pillar.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by GTX+

According to this tweet, it appears to be an engine/equipment failure. Going by the signs it does appear to be one. Although human error and/or a deliberate attempt cannot be ruled out at this stage.

Power loss causes complete lack of control? Astonished that there is no redundancy or emergency backup that comes into play. Maybe that is what happened as the lights returned?

I'm not a seaman, and I've never had command of a vessel bigger than 44 foot... but I'm surprised that the ship does not continue in a straight line for long enough to clear the bridge if its course was correct to do so. Looks to me (and camera angles can completely misrepresent such things) as if it was not on course for a safe clearance. I would guess that the heavy black smoke is caused by the effort of the engines in response to the command of "full astern and then some." I'd further speculate that this may be what is causing the deflection of the stern which sealed the fate of the ship and the bridge.

I'm sure our pro mariners will comment...

[sparky@home]

This collision is something out of a disaster movie. No one expects a ship to collide when it’s a daily routine crossing.

A huge span of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed early Tuesday after being hit by a container ship — sending cars plunging into the water quickly declared a mass-casualty event. Horror footage shows the bridge crumbling after a vessel crashed into the central part of the structure at around 1:40 a.m. The steel arches then instantly dismantled into the Patapsco River, with several vehicles lost.

I guess a full-fledged marine court of enquiry will get to the bottom of this.

https://youtu.be/7JDeBPuFQS0?si=SSle0Y2FiXYLg-Xw

[arnieshwartz]

Looking at this image, it is quite evident how badly damaged the bridge is at the point of impact. Given that more recent news reports are stating that the container ship collided with one of the pillars of the bridge, it might be possible that the sudden loss of load-carrying elements could've quickly contributed to complete failure as what eventually happened.



Image is from a CNN news article with live updates.

[SR-71]

The dailymail has an animation video that tracks the course of the container vessel in a map including a last-minute change in course that resulted in the collision.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...32161796162592

Here is an aftermath video that shows the intensity of the impact in daylight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd6x-QBQmoY

[NomadSK]

I believe such bridges/Structures which cater to large Vessels crossings on regular basis, their supports should be well protected by either bollards/deep piles or any other structure in order to avoid such kind of mishaps. Seems proper "Hazard Analysis" was either not done or was missing.

Few More Updates;

We can confirm that the container vessel “DALI”, operated by charter vessel company Synergy Group, is time chartered by Maersk and is carrying Maersk customers’ cargo.

The press officer handling communications for Synergy Marine Group, which operated the vessel that crashed into the bridge, tells the BBC it was an all-Indian crew with 22 people on board.

The Baltimore fire chief says: "I can tell you our sonar has detected the presence of vehicles submerged in the water", but adds that he can't confirm a number yet

Our criminal intel is working with the FBI and other federal and state agencies to get all the intel that we have.

[deathwalkr]

Such a scary sad accident! Straight out of a disaster movie :(

Apparently 20 are missing.

Again, as a landlubber pardon my ignorance of all things sea related, if it is an engine failure, would dropping anchor be helpful?

If it is an orchestrated incident then it sure is scary.

[Rodie09]

In a regular ship with an engine failure, you lose any braking mechanism and control unless you have things like bow thrusters. Anchor dropping is not a simple operation that can happen in seconds. There are a number of checks that are performed when passing through such areas, but looks like it's a sequence of failures leading to accident.

[BlackBeard]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Again, as a landlubber pardon my ignorance of all things sea related, if it is an engine failure, would dropping anchor be helpful?

Indeed it would be and in an emergency that is what is done, depth permitting!

Originally Posted by Rodie09

In a regular ship with an engine failure, you lose any braking mechanism and control unless you have things like bow thrusters. Anchor dropping is not a simple operation that can happen in seconds. There are a number of checks that are performed when passing through such areas, but looks like it's a sequence of failures leading to accident.

In all probability the vessel was under pilotage since it looks like a river passage to/from a port, so till the official investigation report comes out by NTSB and the flag state we can only speculate.

However ships visiting USA ports are subject to thorough scrutiny by the USCG and compliance with US CFR is mandatory else fines & punishments are very severe & that acts as a deterrent for sub-standard ships from calling their ports. So machinery breakdown (propulsion, steering...etc) though possible is very strange to have occurred.

Terrible...terrible accident nevertheless. :(

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

would dropping anchor be helpful?

Originally Posted by BlackBeard

Indeed it would be and in an emergency that is what is done, depth permitting!

You'd need plenty of space.

• The anchor must run out until it reaches the bottom.
• The chain must run out until it lies on the bottom, giving a horizontal pull on the anchor to make it dig in.
• When that happens, the ship is still going, and will try to continue. The bow will get yanked and the stern will swing round.

So drop an anchor over the stern? Sure, if you have one. It will take time to prepare, and first two points still apply.

Nothing stops a boat, even a small one, in the time it takes to shout "Oh Sugar, we're going to hit the bridge." There is no emergency brake.

I'm guessing that this is tidal water? I wonder what currents there were? I'm again guessing that the current was behind them: your have to be going backwards to be stopped over the ground. Everything's harder.

[adi.mariner]

Really unfortunate accident. I am sure that the crew onboard would have tried their level best to prevent it. There will be a full fledged enquiry to find the root cause of the accident and subsequent counter measures to prevent reoccurrence.
Typically the Emergency Generator only supplies the Navigation Radio Equipment, Emergency Lighting and only the Rudder (Steering Gear) Motors. There is no control over the propulsion and hence the momentum of the vessel cannot be controlled. Only the vessel can be maneuvered to an extent.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Rodie09

Anchor dropping is not a simple operation that can happen in seconds. There are a number of checks that are performed when passing through such areas, but looks like it's a sequence of failures leading to accident.

Actually, it is! When you are manoeuvring like this the anchors would have been readied to drop at a moment's notice. All it takes is to release the brakes.

Not sure if it would have made any difference in this case, as Thad pointed out, you do need quite a bit of space before an anchor holds and starts reducing the ship's forward motion.

Jeroen

[BlackBeard]

Apparently the vessel experienced 2 consecutive blackouts in quick succession right before to collision, probably the rudder got locked at a certain angle hence the swerving before the collision, the ship even managed to issue may day calls to STOP road traffic on the bridge before the collision else could have been worse! Unbelievable.

[SR-71]

This new video shows the point where it seems to lose power not once but twice and recovers both times, only it's too late the second time around.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJNRRdha1Xk