Baltimore bridge collapse

There are 20 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 849 times. The latest Post (April 2, 2024 at 12:52 AM) was by daniel.

    Investigations are under way to determine how this disaster happened. Was it a systems failure on the ship or negligence by the captain and crew, bearing in mind that this is not the first incident involving this particular vessel.

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    Then at 01:25 MarineTraffic data shows that the ship suddenly diverted from its straight course and began to slow down.

    Around this time, video shows that all lights on the exterior of the ship suddenly turned off and smoke began emanating from the ship's funnel.

    Shortly afterwards it hit the bridge.

    Baltimore Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse: What we know about ship and bridge
    How events unfolded when a cargo ship crashed into and destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
    www.bbc.com

    A spectacularly catastrophic event. It seems we are looking at few casualties generally but a life is a life and it's awful in that regard primarily.

    I wonder what the detour looks like for people who normally cross it.

    That's a lot of cargo on the ship though I have no idea what any of it is.

    It looks like there is no prospect of the ship sinking but there's clearly a lot of work to do to free it of a portion of the bridge on top of it.

    What a catastrophic mess unleashed within seconds.

    Can a shipping line, even one as large as Maersk, possibly carry a large enough insurance policy to cover replacing an enormous bridge like that one?

    Quote from Rice

    Can a shipping line, even one as large as Maersk, possibly carry a large enough insurance policy to cover replacing an enormous bridge like that one?

    I believe it was a Indian ship contracted by Maersk. How that works regarding insurance I don't know.

    @Bombonera , I’m sorry to say that I don’t remember how the Twin Towers insurance case came out. I do remember that it seemed to go on forever. Refresh my memory, please?

    I read this earlier today in the NYT:

    “The ship that struck a Baltimore bridge warned of possible collision in a mayday call, prompting workers to try to stop traffic moments before the bridge collapsed.”

    Let’s hope that some lives were saved.

    Tonight, the Coast Guard announced that the search for the 6 missing construction workers had ended. Tragically, no hope left for their families.

    Today’s NYT reports that “President Biden said on Tuesday that the federal government would “pay the entire cost of reconstructing” the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, adding that he hoped it would be rebuilt and reopened “as soon as humanly possible.”

    Thank God he got a major infrastructure bill passed, something that the previous president talked a lot about but never could achieve. America’s infrastructure needs so much work. Unfortunately, this bridge was apparently in great structural condition. Too bad the Dali couldn’t have collapsed a bride already scheduled for major work!

    This writer makes a very important point: we all immediately thought of drivers who will be inconvenienced by having to find a different route, but the bigger picture is that this very busy port is now completely shut down for the coming months or years.

    Much of the Baltimore economy depends upon the port. And losing the port will contribute to supply chain woes.

    (No paywall; gift article)

    https://wapo.st/4ank9HY

    He sounds like an after-the-event kind of expert.

    Has been contacting the city of Baltimore for the last 50 years telling them what they need to do?

    I bet he has not.

    Quote from Bombonera

    He sounds like an after-the-event kind of expert.

    Has been contacting the city of Baltimore for the last 50 years telling them what they need to do?

    I bet he has not.

    I've no idea who he was but he makes a good point.

    ''The crashes have also raised questions about whether more ships should be required to be ready to drop anchors quickly during port emergencies, and whether tugboats should accompany more vessels as they enter and leave harbors.

    There has not been a final report on the Guangzhou incident, and investigators have barely begun to look at what happened in Baltimore. But ship collision barriers are standard around the support piers of bridges over major waterways like the entrance to Baltimore’s harbor. The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in New York City, for example, has massive barriers of concrete and rocks around the bases of the piers that support it.''''

    Recent Bridge Collapses Raise Questions About Modern Shipping
    The crash in Baltimore was at least the second in just over a month in which a container ship hit a major road bridge.
    www.nytimes.com