Baltimore Bridge Collapse

[TVW]

What say you Roksliders...

Unfortunate accident or deliberate terrorist attack?


*Dons tinfoil hat and takes cover*

 

[TVW]

I'm not really a conspiracy theorist but this sped up video shows it taking a quick and sharp turn right toward the bridge column.

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[ODB]

It’s odd the power went off and on a few times. Then the plume of smoke. No idea…

 

[MattB]

You should send that video to the FBI. Based on the information immediately available to them, they ruled out terrorism but that video changes everything. Probably.

 

[Geewhiz]

I'd sure like to think that it was nothing more than an accident.

 

[Roosterstraw]

I like questioning the narrative and usually go against it. But I just don’t see this being a terrorist attack. The ship was having electrical problems days leading up to this. The ship should have never left the dock due to these issues but I don’t think it was intentional, more like a greedy company not wanting their cargo docked.

Plus, our overlords would NEVER miss a chance to fire the war machine up.

 

[TaperPin]

Since they radioed a warning that they lost power two minutes before impact, they would be horrible terrorists - nice to warn the people, but would get their terror card pulled for sure. Had the bridge been packed with rush hour cars it could have been really bad.

I‘m surprised they never thought it was important to reinforce the bridge so something like this wouldn’t happen so easily.

 

[JohnJohnson]

It's pretty clearly an unfortunate accident caused by corporate greed. The crew sent multiple maydays out as the incident was happening which allowed police to stop more cars from coming onto the bridge. Maersk just got sanctioned 8 months ago for trying to force its employees to route their safety concerns through corporate before telling the US Coast Guard. Though I do wonder how many US ports, Baltimore included, will be requiring tugboat usage now.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Rudder stuck without power I'm guessing. There was a US pilot onboard also.

 

[t_carlson]

I heard that the ship dropped its anchor, which is what caused the sharp turn into the bridge.

Don't know if that's true or not, but I could see the crew panicking and doing that if they were not competent.

Competence is hard to come by these days, apparently.

 

[JohnJohnson]

I‘m surprised they never thought it was important to reinforce the bridge so something like this wouldn’t happen so easily.

It's not possible to reinforce that bridge to withstand this sort of incident. The ship was 950 feet long weighing 117,000 tons impacting at about 8 knots. I don't think people fully understand the scale of how much mass/inertia that is. Most ports (or at least a lot) don't allow cargo ships to be under their own power during this process, normally they're brought in/out via tugboats.

 

[ODB]

It's not possible to reinforce that bridge to withstand this sort of incident. The ship was 950 feet long weighing 117,000 tons impacting at about 8 knots. I don't think people fully understand the scale of how much mass/inertia that is. Most ports (or at least a lot) don't allow cargo ships to be under their own power during this process, normally they're brought in/out very tugboats.

Great pic for perspective. Haven’t seen it before. Those bastards are BIG

 

[DangerRanger]

It's not possible to reinforce that bridge to withstand this sort of incident. The ship was 950 feet long weighing 117,000 tons impacting at about 8 knots. I don't think people fully understand the scale of how much mass/inertia that is. Most ports (or at least a lot) don't allow cargo ships to be under their own power during this process, normally they're brought in/out very tugboats.

Ft lbs of energy is a lie, penetration is mostly based on construction. KE just sells ships

 

[Geewhiz]

I would put money down that there were several containers full of SWFA scopes on that ship that were just about to be delivered to fulfill customers' awaiting backorders.

 

[WCB]

From what I understand this ship had past issues also....Just confused how the tax payers will have to pay for it? recoup it from the shipping company.

 

[Divide93]

The timing of it all certainly gives one pause, especially with some of the yet unexplained shipping/naval accidents these past years. Ships are not "crewed" either and there is a constant influx of new hands coming and going a ship at various ports, so certainly an overlooked maintenance issue can't be ruled out. I also read on another site that a fuel issue can cause a blackout on these things. Too early to tell, but I am sure the GOV will get us up to speed soon enough and they can be trusted and are here to help!

 

[Jimmy]

That ship has hit stuff before. Gotta watch out for those non-res folks

 

[jmez]

Loaded cargo ships can't make quick, sharp turns. There is a reason tug boats take them in and out of port.

 

[OMF]

I'm in the tragic accident camp. The crew was experienced and called out multiple maydays etc. as mentioned above. Corporate greed, not maintaining equipment, poor processes etc. in play as usual.

 

[MattB]

I heard that the ship dropped its anchor, which is what caused the sharp turn into the bridge.

Don't know if that's true or not, but I could see the crew panicking and doing that if they were not competent.

Competence is hard to come by these days, apparently.

The pilot dropped an anchor and turned the rudder hard left in an effort to avoid the collision, appropriate steps per the executive director of the American Pilots’ Association.

There is some belief that bad diesel may have been the cause, ties back to corporate greed.