Baltimore, MD - Container Ship Strikes Francis Scott Key Bridge - Mass Casualty Situation

[IQuestion]

<modsnip: quoted post was not an approved source> That video is absolutely haunting, watching the ship silently approach on the left side of the creen. At 1:23 you can see the power of the ship fail (lights go out for over a minute), ship begins to drift and can't recover steerage....wow!
It really makes me see waterways/bridges as extremely vulnerable to a host of future disasters. As shipping vessels get bigger, heavier, wider....bridge construction is aging and not impervious to collisions which have a dimino effect. Just tragic.

 

[PrairieWind]

I do not agree with the restriction of drones . They have regulations and restrictions on megahertz and radio waves to prevent interference . Fair and balanced. Who to trust ?

They need to get aircraft in and out of the area. Private unauthorized drones need to get out of the area for now.

 

[iamshadow21]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1772638084120666591

https://twitter.com/x/status/1772645244959359116

 

[SusanDonim]

'The vessel notified MD Department of Transportation (MDOT) that they had lost control of the vessel and an allision with the bridge was possible,' the report said. 'The vessel struck the bridge causing a complete collapse.'
Red emph. mine.
(Question : That didn't sound correct. I think the article meant to say, 'collision' !)

It is correct - I hadn't heard of it either. allision - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
allision (plural allisions)

1. (nautical) The striking of a vessel against a fixed object; the act of alliding or an instance thereof.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

*State Inspector rescued as one of the workers?, they were on a break, then fell in water, Alex, Jose, Carlos H., Julio, of company: Brawner Builders Inc, I missed a few of the names.

 

[Curiousobserver]

<modsnip: quoted post was not an approved source> That video is absolutely haunting, watching the ship silently approach on the left side of the creen. At 1:23 you can see the power of the ship fail (lights go out for over a minute), ship begins to drift and can't recover steerage....wow!
It really makes me see waterways/bridges as extremely vulnerable to a host of future disasters. As shipping vessels get bigger, heavier, wider....bridge construction is aging and not impervious to collisions which have a dimino effect. Just tragic.

We definitely need to re-think how we protect similar bridges. Hindsight... A few more pylons like those that can be seen in the aerial photos holding up power lines would have directed any large ship into the channel without interfering with smaller traffic. These ships are 100's of feet long so you could space them 100 feet apart.

 

[iamshadow21]

We definitely need to re-think how we protect similar bridges. Hindsight... A few more pylons like those that can be seen in the aerial photos holding up power lines would have directed any large ship into the channel without interfering with smaller traffic. These ships are 100's of feet long so you could space them 100 feet apart.

Given the ship in this case had lost power and was travelling in a completely uncontrolled manner, I don't think that would have helped, here.

MOO

 

[dotr]

Mar 26, 2024
The same vessel that hit the Baltimore Key Bridge on Tuesday, destroying it and sending people and vehicles tumbling into the water, was involved in a collision while leaving the port of Antwerp, Belgium, in 2016. According to Vessel Finder the weather was fine at the time, and the incident was reportedly blamed on the ship’s master and pilot on board Cargo ship that hit Baltimore bridge was involved in Antwerp collision in 2016

 

[Skigh]

Driver reveals miracle escape before bridge collapsed

Baltimore resident Jen Woof heard the news that the Francis Scott Key Bridge near her home in Fort Armistead collapsed when her son woke her up to tell her narrowly escaped the disaster.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Chimera]

Live updates: Baltimore Key bridge collapses after ship collision

Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed early Tuesday after it was struck by a large ship, according to video obtained by CNN. Follow live updates here.

www.cnn.com

Danish shipping giant said it is "omitting" Baltimore on all its services following bridge collapse​

Danish shipping giant Maersk said in a statement on Tuesday that it is dropping Baltimore on all its services for the foreseeable future following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

“Due to the damage to the bridge and resulting debris, it will not be possible to reach the Helen Delich Bentley port of Baltimore for the time being," the company said in a statement. "In line with this, we are omitting Baltimore on all our services for the foreseeable future, until it is deemed safe for passage through this area."

One would expect this ripple effect to continue....
People will lose their jobs.
Omo.

Shipping giant Maersk confirms it chartered ship that collided with Baltimore bridge

"We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected," Maersk said in a statement.

www.cnbc.com

“We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected,” Maersk said in a statement.
Maersk shares were 6.5% lower at 12:18 p.m. in London.

 

[aliciaJ87]

Mar 26, 2024
The same vessel that hit the Baltimore Key Bridge on Tuesday, destroying it and sending people and vehicles tumbling into the water, was involved in a collision while leaving the port of Antwerp, Belgium, in 2016. According to Vessel Finder the weather was fine at the time, and the incident was reportedly blamed on the ship’s master and pilot on board Cargo ship that hit Baltimore bridge was involved in Antwerp collision in 2016

Do we know for sure that it was the same pilot both times?

 

[Soulmagent]

They need to get aircraft in and out of the area. Private unauthorized drones need to get out of the area for now.

I disagree.
I want 60 private citizens on it right now.

 

[Elley Mae]

https://mpa.maryland.gov/Documents/FSKIncident032624.pdf

 

[imstilla.grandma]

A “non-union concrete crew” for the contractor Brawner Builders Inc. was on the bridge when it collapsed, according to Greg Akerman, president of the Baltimore-DC Building Trades Union.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/03/26/baltimore-key-bridge-collapse-maryland/

*13 people in the water

 

[Chimera]

Do we know for sure that it was the same pilot both times?

I'd imagine a different one ?
This previous ship accident was alluded to elsewhere.
Wonder what the fallout from all of this will be.

 

[Curiousobserver]

Given the ship in this case had lost power and was travelling in a completely uncontrolled manner, I don't think that would have helped, here.

MOO

The ship would have collided with the pylons and not the bridge supports. All you need to do is "catch" a powerless ship and prevent it from hitting a key support for this type of bridge. Many bridges have these sorts of systems that prevent larger ships from approaching, Similar to how those yellow concrete poles in a parking lot prevent cars from going through the front of a store in a strip mall.

 

[sds71]

Here's the dispatch audio from this morning's collapse of the Key Bridge in Baltimore.

"They knew the ship was running off course prior to collapse, they started clearing the bridge."

https://twitter.com/x/status/1772659738334892222

 

[ifindedout]

I've been over the Key Bridge several times in my life, in both directions.
I've always been concerned over the lack of piled steel and concrete "dolphins" surrounding the bridge's piers, like they have around the current Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa Bay, whose predecessor partly collapsed as a result of a ship strike in 1980.

Dolphin (structure) - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Sunshine Skyway Bridge - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

(apologies if either of these links have been posted already, this is not a situation where I want to read the entire thread first)
I also have noted all the cargo ships strung out along the Chesapeake Bay when crossing over the Bay Bridge (US 50/301) to the south.
RIP to all victims.

 

[iamshadow21]

The ship would have collided with the pylons and not the bridge supports. All you need to do is "catch" a powerless ship and prevent it from hitting a key support for this type of bridge. Many bridges have these sorts of systems that prevent larger ships from approaching, Similar to how those yellow concrete poles in a parking lot prevent cars from going through the front of a store in a strip mall.

I think the mass and velocity in this case, the ship still would have dominated any pylon. I think the only reason it didn't keep going after hitting the bridge itself is that the upper sections of the bridge fell across the bow and literally pinned it to the bed of the harbour. A fully laden cargo ship is a very 'unstoppable object' kind of thing.

MOO

 

[MadMcGoo]

Good day everyone!

Unless authorities confirm that this event is directly related to any previous incidents, please stick to only discussing what is being reported by the media. In other words, don’t sleuth and post videos and articles from years ago about events that may have nothing to do with this.

Thanks!
Mad