No conspiracy talk please.
The ship had a catastrophic electrical power failure as it approached the bridge. Wind and tide caused a radical and uncontrolled change of course (see last two Suez canal accidents).
Key Bridge was very old and under constant repair every day for at least the last 30yrs.
It could not have been a better time for the worst to happen. Hour and a half before rush hour. Casualties should be light. Mostly from bridge repair crews.
I expect the last of the debris to cleared sometime between the middle of June and the middle of July this Summer.
Until then the old port at Sparrows Point could (and should) be brought back into at least temporary service. It would obviously not be an entire replacement for the terminals north of the bridge but would suffice in the short term and can be done in about a months time.
Rebuilding the bridge itself will probably take a minimum of 2yrs.
@Render Something similar happened in 1980 in Tampa Bay with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.
It's not that old. 1977? The Michigan Avenue Bridge in Chicago started taking traffic in 1920. (No, I wasn't there when it opened 🤣, but I grew up in Chicago) I am absolutely not any sort of architecture expert, but I wonder if this is a side benefit of a bascule bridge having to be made sturdy enough to withstand the winds when it's raised.
IAE, I'm sure you're right. It's awful, but easily could have been much worse.
@Render OMG this is just so awful. My biggest fear drowning in the ocean. I pray for all these people affected by this horrible horrible tragedy.
@Render It's just a really awful accident that was waiting to happen.
Thank you for this sober, rational & reasoned thought.
Unimaginable tragedy I’ve feared my entire life.
@Render not Jewish space lasers, nor narwhal bacons at midnight.
@Render Thank you for heading off the urge of some people to do conspiracy talk. Smart. I do not even want to see the chat on the dead bird site.
@Render Watching the video, I kept "pushing" the light traffic to hurry!
same. omgosh. :( @Lindy
Honestly, my first thought was, "This is why we need to invest in infrastructure." But, while that's still true, this appears to just be a tragic, freak accident.
Even if the bridge was in better shape, it probably would have been taken out by the ship.
@Render My grandson was teasing me about that, pretending that he "heard..."
@Render
I’m sure when this bridge was originally designed and built. They never thought a ship that size with that weight and momentum would smash a column as hard as it did.
I suspect that it was at least a consideration.
Bethlehem Steel's old Sparrows Point steel mill and shipyard is at the north end of the bridge. They built cargo ships close to that size through two wars.
The aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea was scrapped in Baltimore Harbor and had to be towed under the Key bridge to get to the scrapping site.
Nothing is really designed to deal with 116 thousand tons hitting it at around 7 knots.
@Render @thereg001 TIL that when navigating in and out of complex/tight ports, specialized local pilots familiar with the port take over the navigation of the ships. This happened per protocol here. Such an unfortunate series of events with the ship itself. :/
Yes, there were two harbor pilots onboard when the accident happened.
@Render Actual information from a decent source. Thank you.
@Render True there was minimal casualties but more than ever needed.
gCaptain says...
https://gcaptain.com/ship-lost-control-before-hitting-baltimore-bridge/