Video: Key Bridge in Maryland collapses after being struck by container ship

[PeterGriffin]

As someone who steers similar ships and who has some knowledge about ship navigation in inland waterways I can say it's most likely mechanical error leading to an inability to navigate. It's possible it's user error but a ship in any inland waterway has a "pilot" on watch on the "bridge" who's either a permanent crew member or more than likely in this case, is a member of the pilots association and is a "local" who by the nature of their job is very familiar with that specific waterway.

International, "deep sea" vessels have a pilot, a captain, a mate, and multiple "watchmen/ab's" on watch in the pilot house observing and acting to make sure the ship navigates safely, not to mention multiple crew members monitoring systems from below the decks in the "engine control room"...

This is really dark...

*Edit: they were going 8kts when they hit the bridge, and apparently had an explosion on board which cut their power twice. Without power a ship can't steer. These ships also have crew standing by the anchors for emergencies but anchors don't work when moving that fast...

This is a solid post. No power, no propulsion on a ship that size in a narrow channel?

Is this a major bridge in the area of a secondary bridge?
It's obviously a tragedy for all the lives lost but I'm wondering how badly it's gonna interrupt life in the area for the next few years, will it be a minor inconvenience not to have that route available or is it gonna cause a complete disruption of lives and traffic nightmares everywhere

Our city of similar size to Baltimore and we have two spans. The one in the background is for buses and passenger vehicles only and leads to the Atlantic. The one in the foreground allows for commercial and high-sided vehicles and precedes the Bedford Basin. Losing either bridge would make an an already challenging commute during rush hours to a fucking nightmare. The highway/roadway system to bypass the bridges would not be able to handle the added traffic from losing one of our bridges.

I would think you would be looking a couple years' work at best to replace, even on short notice/emergency. Those who can work or do school from home might as well start calling it in.

Nah, that's one of if not my biggest fear, falling off a bridge
When I took my ex and her son to the Golden Gate Bridge they wanted to walk across it. I said go ahead, I'm going to wait at the visitors parking, fuck that

Yea, I been terrified of that since I was a kid, everytime I go over the Bay Bridge I get little flashes in my mind of the bridge failing and our car tumbling head first to our icy death
Thais will help with that, Im sure...

In the pic that I posted, the bridge in the background was getting re-decked about 10 years back now. Underneath the bridge was the old copper plant from MT&T days linking Halifax and Dartmouth. Before the re-decking could start, I had to pull two heavy fibre cables (about 4" in diameter) underneath the bridge in the foreground to tie in to the fiber plant to absorb the switching load (not allowed to install residential telephone on copper anymore here) that would be lost during the re-decking process. It took a crew of 7 of us almost 3 weeks to do it (we weren't lucky enough for the pathway to be a straight fucking line).

Those suspension bridges have quite a lot of flex and sway to them in high winds. It was intimidating at times. They say it's like hitting concrete at those heights. Didn't much feel like testing out that theory.

 

[Joshuaace]

Great vid and analysis.

For sure. I have a list of YT "Guys". My plumbing guy, my small engine guy, my HVAC guy......and now I have a shipping lane guy.

 

[Thrawn33]

For sure. I have a list of YT "Guys". My plumbing guy, my small engine guy, my HVAC guy......and now I have a shipping lane guy.

I've watched his stuff before. 100 agree with what he said in this one.

Easier to post a vid than me trying to explain, lol....

The water is a scary place to work sometimes. Had a few "that could've been really fucking bad" and a "this IS really fucking bad" moments.

 

[shunyata]

You could be the best captain/master/pilot in the world and if you lose all propulsion and steerage on a ship that big that close to a fixed object and you're basically at the mercy of physics and the elements.

Yeah, lose power and control on that kind of mass and you belong to your momentum and the current.

I hope people don't jump to attack the pilot. But they probably will.

 

[Thrawn33]

Yeah, lose power and control on that kind of mass and you belong to your momentum and the current.

I hope people don't jump to attack the pilot. But they probably will.

Because most peoples experience on a boat or ship is their buddies bass boat, a pontoon on a lake or a passenger on a cruise.

 

[ralphc1]

I looked for tide charts and found that on the 26th, there was a low tide at 2:36 AM at .15 feet so the tide would have been going out. The previous high tide Monday was at 8:31 PM at only 1 foot so tidal flow shouldn't have had much, if any effect as it was almost over at the time of the collision. I don't know how river flow effects the current. It looks like the wind was light out of the Southeast at the time so if the map I saw was correct, the wind should have pushed the ship away from the place that it hit. For some reason, according to the track, the Ship was on the Port -left side of the channel and started turning to Starboard-right as it approached the bridge.

Somebody has some explaining to do.​

 

[Sobek]

So I'm a bit of a dumb fuck on boats. I assume what is meant to happen is that the ship should have had it's engine in low and been testing it's instruments and the tug boats normally would do the bulk of the work towing it into open waters to ensure specifically it doesn't hit infrastructure or if something fails close to start up (the same way if a plane crashes it is likely to be just before or after take off) it can be easily retrieved.

Is that about right?

 

[Joe Mama]

Yeah, lose power and control on that kind of mass and you belong to your momentum and the current.

I hope people don't jump to attack the pilot. But they probably will.

Maybe the pilot will have a level of accountability, but overall I think the onus is going to be on the company that owns/contracted this team and the skipper. It almost reeks of improper maintenance or poor quality checks (for whatever reason) as it happened so close to port. The ship lost complete power. No aux, no backup plan - nothing.

And I heard a rumor they were having issues even before they cast off.

 

[Thrawn33]

So I'm a bit of a dumb fuck on boats. I assume what is meant to happen is that the ship should have had it's engine in low and been testing it's instruments and the tug boats normally would do the bulk of the work towing it into open waters to ensure specifically it doesn't hit infrastructure or if something fails close to start up (the same way if a plane crashes it is likely to be just before or after take off) it can be easily retrieved.

Is that about right?

No.

Tug boats are generally used to help moor and get a ship underway. The tugs departed as the mishap vessel steaded on track and made way. Pretty standard.

They don't tow what are assumed to be perfectly functional ships in and out of major harbors like that.

 

[MicroBrew]

Anyone interested in shipping should check out these 2 YT channels. I've been subscribed to them / watched them for years.

I've posted the below channel before, back when that ship blocked the Suez.

https://www.youtube.com/@ChiefMAKOi/videos

Below is another popular and good channel on life at sea working on massive International container ships

https://www.youtube.com/@KaranvirSinghNayyar/videos

 

[Bornstarch]

Someone said it takes 4 miles for this boat to stop

 

[PeterGriffin]

Because most peoples experience on a boat or ship is their buddies bass boat, a pontoon on a lake or a passenger on a cruise.

No love for giant floating unicorn party islands?

 

[MicroBrew]

The Dali - ship that hit the bridge - has a gross tonnage of 95,000 tonnes.

To put that into perspective the Ford class aircraft carriers (newest & most advanced carriers in the USN) has a gross tonnage of 100,000 tonnes.

Just imagine a Ford class carrier smashing into the Bridge's supports.

 

[Roop Holstry]

This is wild….an absolutely tragic and terrifying situation.

Suspension bridges always scared me a little bit. The ones I crossed in Charleston and Connecticut recently I was not a fan of.

I have to cross 3 bridges nearly every day if I want to leave the island I’m on. These aren’t suspension though and are sturdy af. The really windy days during the winter with icy roads are a bit sketchy though.

 

[emefer]

I was at the wheel last year when my ship lost power and I had no ability to prevent it from running aground. Fortunately we landed in a "best case scenario" type of spot and did no damage to the ship or anything else. It's very traumatic... I'm with you... I feel for the crew of this vessel and everyone affected.

Lost my engine in the Chesapeake and Delaware canal. That was fucking scary as the was was moving and had no steering. Through over the anchor which luckily made purchase.

Apparently I didn’t bleed the lines enough when changing the fuel filters even though it was running for about 30 minutes before taking off.

Can’t imagine what was going through the crews heads during that.

 

[badascan]

Lost my engine in the Chesapeake and Delaware canal. That was fucking scary as the was was moving and he no steering. Through over the anchor which luckily made purchase.

Apparently I didn’t bleed the lines enough when changing the fuel filters even though it was running for about 30 minutes before taking off.

Can’t imagine what was going through the crews heads during that.

I suppose losing power is always a bit alarming. We were able to drop the hook on my ship but we were going 11knots and are a 700' vessel so we dragged the anchor like it was nothing... The 3d scan of the ground was pretty interesting.

 

[emefer]

I suppose losing power is always a bit alarming. We were able to drop the hook on my ship but we were going 11knots and are a 700' vessel so we dragged the anchor like it was nothing... The 3d scan of the ground was pretty interesting.

I was only on a 34’ trawler that couldn’t even do 11 knots. Still scary.

 

[ralphc1]

So I'm a bit of a dumb fuck on boats. I assume what is meant to happen is that the ship should have had it's engine in low and been testing it's instruments and the tug boats normally would do the bulk of the work towing it into open waters to ensure specifically it doesn't hit infrastructure or if something fails close to start up (the same way if a plane crashes it is likely to be just before or after take off) it can be easily retrieved.

Is that about right?

It was very common in the past for ships to be towed or pushed into and out of ports because it was difficult to maneuver until they have some forward motion so the rudder is effective. Ships certainly have to pay for the services of tugboats so they want to use them as little as possible. The video I posted earlier showed the tugs in use as the ship left the dock and turned into the channel. Most ships are built with bow thrusters to aid in maneuvering at slower speeds.

Ships are equipped with data recorders. I assume they have backup power to maintain the memory and that will be downloaded as the owners of the ship, the lessee and the insurance companies argue over who will pay for the bridge. Here is a video answering some questions.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

As a big fan of the Wire I’m sorry to see that bridge go. It featured prominently several times in the show, particularly in season 2, and is seemingly one of the few landmarks of Baltimore

 

[lsa]

Yeah, lose power and control on that kind of mass and you belong to your momentum and the current.

I hope people don't jump to attack the pilot. But they probably will.

I saw a Social media post in another sub forum on here..
It claimed the ships captain is Ukrainian and wanted people to "connect the dots"....
Of course there was no source or anything to the captain being Ukrainian,