Key bridge in Baltimore collapses after cargo ship crashes into it

[Anonymous]

I live on the ESMD on the Bay and according to my navy and coast guard friends out here: the boat was experiencing repeated power failures from the short time it was released from the tugs after it left the port. Without power the navigation system won’t work and you cannot steer it and hence the boat will drift. The crew then tried to force the throttle to get it back on course and avoid a collision which is why there is thick black smoke seen coming from the boat before it gets to the bridge. The boat did contact MTA/the bridge which has its headquarters at the north end of the bridge in Dundalk to indicate they believed it would collide with the bridge but there wasn’t enough time IRT to then close the bridge to traffic before it was struck.

The ship was FULL of thousands (yes, thousands) of containers. The weight is incredible. You cannot do sharp turns or sudden stops on this. It also is so heavy it would do this to almost any bridge if collided.

Every single container ship that sails on the Bay, anywhere from Virginia Beach to Baltimore, must have a local bay captain on board while it’s on the bay to navigate the ship. There was one on this ship as well.

Ships are being re-routed to the port of Philadelphia.

[Anonymous]

More info about the ship and it's owners + operators. The shipping world is very weird when it comes to responsibility for the ship.

https://www.vesselfinder.com/vessels/details/9697428

https://www.tradewindsnews.com/casualties/-mass-casualty-event-as-maersk-container-ship-destroys-vital-bridge-in-baltimore/2-1-1617658

The ship is owned by Mitsui & Co subsidiary Grace Ocean of Singapore and operated by Maersk between the East Coast of the US and East Asia, according to Clarksons data.

A Grace Ocean official confirmed to TradeWinds that the vessel involved was the Dali.

“We can confirm that this is correct,” he said, adding that the company was working with the ship’s technical manager, Synergy Marine, to determine what happened.

“At this time we are still trying to get information,” he said.
...
Maersk said: “We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected.”

The group said the ship was operated by Synergy and time-chartered by Maersk, with Maersk cargo on board.

No Maersk crew or personnel were on the vessel.

I predict a lot of finger pointing when it comes to liability. It sounds like Maersk "rents" the ship from the ownership company and then subcontracted to a company called Synergy to actually operate the ship, with all of Maersk's cargo on the ship. Whose insurance is actually responsible?

It's going to be a debacle. I hope the Feds start freezing assets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live on the ESMD on the Bay and according to my navy and coast guard friends out here: the boat was experiencing repeated power failures from the short time it was released from the tugs after it left the port. Without power the navigation system won’t work and you cannot steer it and hence the boat will drift. The crew then tried to force the throttle to get it back on course and avoid a collision which is why there is thick black smoke seen coming from the boat before it gets to the bridge. The boat did contact MTA/the bridge which has its headquarters at the north end of the bridge in Dundalk to indicate they believed it would collide with the bridge but there wasn’t enough time IRT to then close the bridge to traffic before it was struck.

The ship was FULL of thousands (yes, thousands) of containers. The weight is incredible. You cannot do sharp turns or sudden stops on this. It also is so heavy it would do this to almost any bridge if collided.

Every single container ship that sails on the Bay, anywhere from Virginia Beach to Baltimore, must have a local bay captain on board while it’s on the bay to navigate the ship. There was one on this ship as well.

Ships are being re-routed to the port of Philadelphia.

This is helpful. thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:More info about the ship and it's owners + operators. The shipping world is very weird when it comes to responsibility for the ship.

https://www.vesselfinder.com/vessels/details/9697428

https://www.tradewindsnews.com/casualties/-mass-casualty-event-as-maersk-container-ship-destroys-vital-bridge-in-baltimore/2-1-1617658

The ship is owned by Mitsui & Co subsidiary Grace Ocean of Singapore and operated by Maersk between the East Coast of the US and East Asia, according to Clarksons data.

A Grace Ocean official confirmed to TradeWinds that the vessel involved was the Dali.

“We can confirm that this is correct,” he said, adding that the company was working with the ship’s technical manager, Synergy Marine, to determine what happened.

“At this time we are still trying to get information,” he said.
...
Maersk said: “We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected.”

The group said the ship was operated by Synergy and time-chartered by Maersk, with Maersk cargo on board.

No Maersk crew or personnel were on the vessel.

I predict a lot of finger pointing when it comes to liability. It sounds like Maersk "rents" the ship from the ownership company and then subcontracted to a company called Synergy to actually operate the ship, with all of Maersk's cargo on the ship. Whose insurance is actually responsible?

It's going to be a debacle. I hope the Feds start freezing assets.

i used to work at CBP and even CBP may have jurisdiction to levy fines and/or take other action against any of the entities involved. and that’s just one piece of the Fed puzzle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live on the ESMD on the Bay and according to my navy and coast guard friends out here: the boat was experiencing repeated power failures from the short time it was released from the tugs after it left the port. Without power the navigation system won’t work and you cannot steer it and hence the boat will drift. The crew then tried to force the throttle to get it back on course and avoid a collision which is why there is thick black smoke seen coming from the boat before it gets to the bridge. The boat did contact MTA/the bridge which has its headquarters at the north end of the bridge in Dundalk to indicate they believed it would collide with the bridge but there wasn’t enough time IRT to then close the bridge to traffic before it was struck.

The ship was FULL of thousands (yes, thousands) of containers. The weight is incredible. You cannot do sharp turns or sudden stops on this. It also is so heavy it would do this to almost any bridge if collided.

Every single container ship that sails on the Bay, anywhere from Virginia Beach to Baltimore, must have a local bay captain on board while it’s on the bay to navigate the ship. There was one on this ship as well.

Ships are being re-routed to the port of Philadelphia.

This is helpful. thank you.

+2 That was an informative post. But what us EMSD?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where will the cruise ships go?

Norfolk or Newark. Or it might be cheaper to fly the passengers home from another port of call.

+1 Any cruise ship that still needs to return would probably go to Philadelphia and provide ground transportation for passengers back to Baltimore. It’s the cargo ships stuck in the harbor now that are a much bigger problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live on the ESMD on the Bay and according to my navy and coast guard friends out here: the boat was experiencing repeated power failures from the short time it was released from the tugs after it left the port. Without power the navigation system won’t work and you cannot steer it and hence the boat will drift. The crew then tried to force the throttle to get it back on course and avoid a collision which is why there is thick black smoke seen coming from the boat before it gets to the bridge. The boat did contact MTA/the bridge which has its headquarters at the north end of the bridge in Dundalk to indicate they believed it would collide with the bridge but there wasn’t enough time IRT to then close the bridge to traffic before it was struck.

The ship was FULL of thousands (yes, thousands) of containers. The weight is incredible. You cannot do sharp turns or sudden stops on this. It also is so heavy it would do this to almost any bridge if collided.

Every single container ship that sails on the Bay, anywhere from Virginia Beach to Baltimore, must have a local bay captain on board while it’s on the bay to navigate the ship. There was one on this ship as well.

Ships are being re-routed to the port of Philadelphia.

This is helpful. thank you.

+2 That was an informative post. But what us EMSD?

ESMD. Eastern Shore of Maryland?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live on the ESMD on the Bay and according to my navy and coast guard friends out here: the boat was experiencing repeated power failures from the short time it was released from the tugs after it left the port. Without power the navigation system won’t work and you cannot steer it and hence the boat will drift. The crew then tried to force the throttle to get it back on course and avoid a collision which is why there is thick black smoke seen coming from the boat before it gets to the bridge. The boat did contact MTA/the bridge which has its headquarters at the north end of the bridge in Dundalk to indicate they believed it would collide with the bridge but there wasn’t enough time IRT to then close the bridge to traffic before it was struck.

The ship was FULL of thousands (yes, thousands) of containers. The weight is incredible. You cannot do sharp turns or sudden stops on this. It also is so heavy it would do this to almost any bridge if collided.

Every single container ship that sails on the Bay, anywhere from Virginia Beach to Baltimore, must have a local bay captain on board while it’s on the bay to navigate the ship. There was one on this ship as well.

Ships are being re-routed to the port of Philadelphia.

This is helpful. thank you.

+2 That was an informative post. But what us EMSD?

Eastern Shore Maryland?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live on the ESMD on the Bay and according to my navy and coast guard friends out here: the boat was experiencing repeated power failures from the short time it was released from the tugs after it left the port. Without power the navigation system won’t work and you cannot steer it and hence the boat will drift. The crew then tried to force the throttle to get it back on course and avoid a collision which is why there is thick black smoke seen coming from the boat before it gets to the bridge. The boat did contact MTA/the bridge which has its headquarters at the north end of the bridge in Dundalk to indicate they believed it would collide with the bridge but there wasn’t enough time IRT to then close the bridge to traffic before it was struck.

The ship was FULL of thousands (yes, thousands) of containers. The weight is incredible. You cannot do sharp turns or sudden stops on this. It also is so heavy it would do this to almost any bridge if collided.

Every single container ship that sails on the Bay, anywhere from Virginia Beach to Baltimore, must have a local bay captain on board while it’s on the bay to navigate the ship. There was one on this ship as well.

Ships are being re-routed to the port of Philadelphia.

Thank you for this informative post.

[Anonymous]

Regarding cruise ships- I imagine they'll be anchored and tender into the harbor. While I think that would be a nuisance, I don't think it's going to stop cruise ships. Supplying them (food, garbage) will be hard, but there are other stops at other ports that this could potentially happen.

Container ships on the other hand need all the infrastructure of a harbor with cranes. They'll have to be rerouted elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

I hope Wes Moore calls Gavin Newsom and ask him how they got the freeway in LA re-opened in record time after last fall's devastating fire.

Biggest priority right now is to clear the debris ASAP and get the shipping lanes re-opened. That can probably happen in a week or two by commandeering recovery equipment from Norfolk, Philly, and Newark.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live on the ESMD on the Bay and according to my navy and coast guard friends out here: the boat was experiencing repeated power failures from the short time it was released from the tugs after it left the port. Without power the navigation system won’t work and you cannot steer it and hence the boat will drift. The crew then tried to force the throttle to get it back on course and avoid a collision which is why there is thick black smoke seen coming from the boat before it gets to the bridge. The boat did contact MTA/the bridge which has its headquarters at the north end of the bridge in Dundalk to indicate they believed it would collide with the bridge but there wasn’t enough time IRT to then close the bridge to traffic before it was struck.

The ship was FULL of thousands (yes, thousands) of containers. The weight is incredible. You cannot do sharp turns or sudden stops on this. It also is so heavy it would do this to almost any bridge if collided.

Every single container ship that sails on the Bay, anywhere from Virginia Beach to Baltimore, must have a local bay captain on board while it’s on the bay to navigate the ship. There was one on this ship as well.

Ships are being re-routed to the port of Philadelphia.

Why the heck would the tugs release the ship knowing that it was having electrical issues and a huge bridge to imminently navigate?! And why isn’t that bridge considered to be within the harbor?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live on the ESMD on the Bay and according to my navy and coast guard friends out here: the boat was experiencing repeated power failures from the short time it was released from the tugs after it left the port. Without power the navigation system won’t work and you cannot steer it and hence the boat will drift. The crew then tried to force the throttle to get it back on course and avoid a collision which is why there is thick black smoke seen coming from the boat before it gets to the bridge. The boat did contact MTA/the bridge which has its headquarters at the north end of the bridge in Dundalk to indicate they believed it would collide with the bridge but there wasn’t enough time IRT to then close the bridge to traffic before it was struck.

The ship was FULL of thousands (yes, thousands) of containers. The weight is incredible. You cannot do sharp turns or sudden stops on this. It also is so heavy it would do this to almost any bridge if collided.

Every single container ship that sails on the Bay, anywhere from Virginia Beach to Baltimore, must have a local bay captain on board while it’s on the bay to navigate the ship. There was one on this ship as well.

Ships are being re-routed to the port of Philadelphia.

Thanks for posting this. Does anyone know why the ship wouldn’t just drop anchor in this case?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live on the ESMD on the Bay and according to my navy and coast guard friends out here: the boat was experiencing repeated power failures from the short time it was released from the tugs after it left the port. Without power the navigation system won’t work and you cannot steer it and hence the boat will drift. The crew then tried to force the throttle to get it back on course and avoid a collision which is why there is thick black smoke seen coming from the boat before it gets to the bridge. The boat did contact MTA/the bridge which has its headquarters at the north end of the bridge in Dundalk to indicate they believed it would collide with the bridge but there wasn’t enough time IRT to then close the bridge to traffic before it was struck.

The ship was FULL of thousands (yes, thousands) of containers. The weight is incredible. You cannot do sharp turns or sudden stops on this. It also is so heavy it would do this to almost any bridge if collided.

Every single container ship that sails on the Bay, anywhere from Virginia Beach to Baltimore, must have a local bay captain on board while it’s on the bay to navigate the ship. There was one on this ship as well.

Ships are being re-routed to the port of Philadelphia.

This is helpful. thank you.

+2 That was an informative post. But what us EMSD?

Not PP but ESMD is eastern shore of Maryland.

[Anonymous]

Does there seem to be any foul play? Terrorism that caused the power and propulsion to go out?