Reply to Key bridge in Baltimore collapses after cargo ship crashes into it

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=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. [/quote]
Thanks for posting this. Does anyone know why the ship wouldn’t just drop anchor in this case? [/quote]

It wouldn't do much good. 95,000 tonnes in motion is not easy to stop [/quote]

Might tear up the front of the ship but could have avoided the collision.[/quote]

No.  Anchors aren't like breaks on a boat.  You drop it, but then it has to drag and catch on something in the surface of the river.  If the ship has any forward momentum, it will take a while for the dragging to slow the ship enough so that the friction of the anchor can stop the boat.  And then even when the anchor is secure, the ship will still drift in a pretty large circle about the anchor point depending on currents, wind, etc.[/quote]
Thanks for all of this 
- the PP who asked about the anchor[/quote]

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