Francis Keys bridge hit by ship. Bridge collapses, mass casualty event.

[beagle9]

MD Pilots are the best of the best. Someone can't just up and decide one day they want to be one. It takes more than 10 years of training and education to meet the requirements to apply for the Pilot's program (which is another 5 years of training and education).

The Association of Maryland Pilots

www.mdpilots.com

PORT: A Transportation System

• Pilots must serve a five-year apprenticeship before they become fully licensed. This is in addition to other training and education they must complete, including earning a bachelor’s degree from the U. S. Merchant Marine Academy or the other state maritime academies and experience on ships in other positions. Only a few of the hundreds of applicants for these apprenticeships are selected to participate in this five-year program.

None of it is any good if they lose a ship and a bridge simultaneously.

 

[Jim H - VA USA]

Now they want to rename the racist bridge when it is rebuilt...

The Caucus of African American Leaders has unanimously voted to ask that when the Francis Scott Key Bridge is rebuilt, it no longer bear the name of the national anthem’s author.

The consortium of Civil Rights groups includes the NAACP, the National Coalition of 100 Black Women and others. It voted to recommend changing the name of the Key Bridge because it honors a man who enslaved African Americans and wrote lyrics that scholars have found “demeaned Black people.”

Key Bridge name should change, civil rights groups say

The Caucus of African American Leaders unanimously voted to ask that two bridges in the state, including the Francis Scott Key Bridge, be renamed.

www.thebaltimorebanner.com

Civil rights groups call for collapsed Baltimore bridge to be renamed

The Caucus of African American Leaders of Anne Arundel County in Maryland voted unanimously to call for the renaming.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Full lyrics of the Star Spangled Banner with highlighted controversial text....

O! say can you see by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watch’d, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream,
‘Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country, shall leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave,
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their lov’d home and the war’s desolation,
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust;”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.

 

[tahuyaman]

Look you freaking idiots. If a container ship loses engine power, it’s helpless.

 

[AyeCantSeeYou]

The latest sonar images from USACE Baltimore:

They're only showing the mid-section, not the entire collapsed area of the bridge.

 

[WEATHER53]

Anything yet beyond a boat ran into the bridge?

 

[AZrailwhale]

So how would the ships officers communicate with the crew?

Being fluent in one language doesn't preclude being fluent in one or more others (unless you are a stereotypical American). Most Europeans are fluent in at least two languages as I understand it.

 

[AZrailwhale]

The pilot wasn’t in control either. The ship was disabled and dead in the water.

The ship was never "dead in the water" she hit the bridge at nearly eight knots. If she was "dead in the water" the current would have nudged her into the bridge at a half knot or so with far less damage.

 

[eagle1462010]

Full loss of power has always been referred to as Dead in the water regarfdless of coasting or not.

 

[M14 Shooter]

How many of the posters on this board drove large ships like I have?

Me.
1000ft colliers, 65-68k tons bulk cargo, ~94k displacement at 28' draft.
Nothing in this incident lies outside my experience and understanding -- sometimes things happen, and sometimes they happen at the wrong time.

 

[WEATHER53]

Probably one out of every 500 people have driven very large ships in tight quarters like this. Yet we have 4-6 on here claiming expertise. There is in fact probably one

 

[WEATHER53]

The ship was never "dead in the water" she hit the bridge at nearly eight knots. If she was "dead in the water" the current would have nudged her into the bridge at a half knot or so with far less damage.

Amen

 

[M14 Shooter]

Probably one out of every 500 people have driven very large ships in tight quarters like this.

Probably less.
And outbound Baltimore harbor is not tight quarters.
Try the Cleveland Creek

Nautical Charts Online - View details of Chart 14839, Cleveland Harbor, including lower Cuyahoga River

View zoomable details of Chart 14839, Cleveland Harbor, including lower Cuyahoga River

www.nauticalchartsonline.com

 

[beagle9]

Look you freaking idiots. If a container ship loses engine power, it’s helpless.

No duh..... It's what happens next and basically all in between that either makes or breaks the situation for the powerless vessel.

 

[Delldude]

Being fluent in one language doesn't preclude being fluent in one or more others (unless you are a stereotypical American). Most Europeans are fluent in at least two languages as I understand it.

It's a maritime requirement the same as in global airport communications.

 

[tahuyaman]

No duh..... It's what happens next and basically all in between that either makes or breaks the situation for the powerless vessel.

When the ship is powerless what happens next is completely up to Mother Nature unless another ship under power comes to the rescue.

 

[tahuyaman]

The ship was never "dead in the water" she hit the bridge at nearly eight knots. If she was "dead in the water" the current would have nudged her into the bridge at a half knot or so with far less damage.

It was dead in the water. That’s why it slammed into the bridge,


Idiots.

 

[Jim H - VA USA]

It was dead in the water. That’s why it slammed into the bridge,


Idiots.

Here is the track of the ship. It was on course to miss the bridge. Three minutes before hitting the bridge, rudder commands were received, according to official NTSB statement. At that time, the ship changed course and headed directly towards the bridge pier, and then there was the power loss and the ship proceeded on that course as shown .

Explain please, Captain...

 

[beagle9]

When the ship is powerless what happens next is completely up to Mother Nature unless another ship under power comes to the rescue.

Recovering power could be an option, but only if time is available, dropping anchors is another action, and tugs also shadowing the ship in a parallel action near-by, otherwise encase they were to be called upon while the ship is near to critical infrastructure is another option needed..... That should actually be protocal until danger zone is cleared.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

It was dead in the water. That’s why it slammed into the bridge,


Idiots.

Dead in the water means it is not moving. All way is off the ship!

 

[tahuyaman]

Dead in the water means it is not moving. All way is off the ship!

Your brain is dead in the water. You're a moron.

A vessel which is dead in the water is one which has lost engine power.