Bridge collapse

There were two tugs, but they seem to have left early on. I don't know if the two they had were able to do anything:

I haven't played the audios.

One part of this article is uplifting at least, that they only had 2 minutes or maybe 90 secodns from the time the Mayday went out and were still able to block the bridge from added traffic.

“Hold all traffic on the Key Bridge. There’s a ship approaching that just lost their steering,” a dispatcher says.

An officer asks whether a construction crew is working on the bridge.

“Just make sure no one’s on the bridge right now. I’m not sure what — there’s a crew up there. You might want to notify whoever the foreman is, see if we can get them off the bridge temporarily,” a dispatcher responds.

A half minute later, an officer says he’ll grab the construction workers when backup arrives. [Because he was stopping the traffic on the Beltway.]

But there’s no time.

Traveling at a speed of just under 7 knots or about 8 mph, the ship rams into the bridge. The voyage data recorder captures what sounds like the collision at 1:29 a.m. The NTSB said Wednesday night that more analysis was needed to determine the precise time of impact. -- end quote --

As to the two men who came out of the water first, I heard that one was fine and the other was in critical condition in the hospital, but a few days later I heard the second man was released already.

On 4/1/2024 11:01 AM, micky wrote: > There were two tugs, but they seem to have left early on. I don't know > if the two they had were able to do anything: >

formatting link

> 12:51 a.m.: The Dali’s status is changed to “under way using engine” and > its speed is recorded at about 3 knots on myshiptracking.com, a website > that tracks ships’ locations via the Automatic Identification System, a > technology used to avoid collisions. >
> 1:09 a.m.: Two tugboats guiding the Dali leave once the ship turns to > begin its departure out of the port waters. > ..... That would be normal procedure. Tugs are needed for tight maneuverability, especially at low speeds. Once underway, the pilot, not the captain is in charge until is is out of port. The pilot is very familiar with local conditions, know where the buried tree stump is and such details.

Just saw this in USA Today

Tugboats.

These small but mighty vessels tow and push ever-larger ships through channels and help them when their propulsion systems – or lack thereof – cannot. They are standard equipment in ports worldwide and are especially useful to help ships dock and undock.

On Tuesday, a pair of tugboats operated by McAllister Towing and Transportation did just that, helping the Dali unmoor itself from the main terminal at the Port of Baltimore and orient the ship toward the open waters.

But they broke away before the massive ship navigated under the bridge, as is common practice. Minutes later, the Dali appeared to lose power and propulsion, sending the craft adrift and directly into one of the bridge’s support columns. The steel-truss bridge immediately collapsed into the frigid Patapsco River.

The accident is igniting debate over the proliferation of 'megaships' that fuel today’s commercial transportation industry and whether port protocols have ramped up to safely accommodate them. Although the Dali is considered average-sized, the devastation it caused in Baltimore was formidable.

Had the tugboats accompanied the ship all the way under the bridge, some experts say, they might have been able to stop, slow, or steer it away from danger.

Such a scenario should be standard operating procedure in all ports, said Capt. Ashok Pandey, a master mariner and associate professor of maritime business at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. He said the industry’s reliance on tugs has waned over the years as technological advancements gave many ships the ability to maneuver through channels independently.

I suspect the guy driving the boat was influenced by Democrat $$$ to take out the bridge.

That has to be one of the dumbest things ever posted here.

Remember the nose wheel that fell off the Delta jet while taxiing for departure? I suspect Goober got fired.

Remember the tire falling off the United jet departing SFO, crushing several vehicles in parking lot? Goober at his new job?

And now the Dali's engine puked departing the Baltimore harbor. Is Goober a marine diesel mechanic now? Did Goober recently give the Dali a tune up?

Oh, you. Always have an opinion, but never have any sources. And wrong in this case and, I'm sure, many, many others. Since you post off the top of your head without reading anything.

Quote: When Key Bridge was built, the biggest container ship in the world in storage terms, the German-made Hamburg Express, could carry 2,950

“At the time the Key Bridge was designed, such vessels didn’t exist,” said Ian Firth, a British structural engineer and bridge designer, in a telephone interview with The Baltimore Sun. “Nobody had the foggiest idea that such a vessel could possibly ever exist. No way the designer could have imagined this, and indeed, not just the designer, but those who commissioned the bridge and the project and decided on the size of the span.”

micky wrote on 4/6/2024 3:09 PM:

How come China built the biggest of everything? What's wrong with the US?

China built the biggest container cargo ship

Bigger isn’t necessarily better.

What's wrong with the US?

China buys in engineering talent.

Ah, the one that is cracking and moving downstream. The one where no foreigners are allowed to get near! That one??

Never forget they also built the worlds largest ponzi scheme that encompasses 30% of the entire Chinese economy and is currently in the process of collapsing and taking $trillions out of Chinese people’s life savings. Yep, China has the world’s largest cadre of state sanctioned criminals in history.

____ Xeno

The 2007/2008 subprime mortgage bubble in the US was the world's largest Ponzi scheme that brought down the world's economy, you useless babbling idiot. Your should crawl out of your rock in the outback down under more often to see the world pass you by.

You aint seen nothin' yet Fake Micky!

I have seen koalas a lot faster and smarter than you.

Wait till you meet up with a drop bear! You'll be the fastest piece of s*it in existence.

Ji Jin Ping thought China was too big to fail also.

Good for you. Yes indeed, it's not me.

Also a forger, not posted by me.

micky wrote on 4/8/2024 11:13 AM:

You are the forger, forger.

micky wrote on 4/8/2024 11:12 AM:

I think you are the forger.

You are the one using multiple names. In another thread you call yourself Ordog. Grow up.