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

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Do we Know that the engines never came back on? Is that confirmed by those on board . I would think emergency back up includes more than lights?

Emergency generators usually supply electrical power to vital systems. It is obvious their system did not work as it went dark a second time.

 

[tahuyaman]

The ship had a total blackout. There was no power, no electricity, no steering, no rudder, no propulsion, no thrusters .... no anything! There was nothing they could do. If you go back to the beginning of the thread and read thru it, you'll find where I've given info about it. (I live very close to the bridge.)

Yes. When a ship loses engine power it loses the ability to steer. It appears that engine power was restored just a few seconds before the ship hit the bridge. It would needed to have been restored at least five minutes earlier.


The fact that you live very close to this bridge is irrelevant.

 

[tahuyaman]

I'd bet the gen's provided power for navigation controls, like steering, hydraulics, etc and went offline for one reason or another. Looks like something else caused it to keep tripping off.

A ship needs engine power to steer. A ship doesn’t turn just because you rotate the rudders. The propellers need to be forcing water past the rudders to steer. The propellers are not turned through electrical power. Large diesel engines do that.

 

[skews13]

Major bridge stuck by cargo ship and the bridge collapses……..video of the collapse…..

Maryland: Ship hits Francis Scott Key Bridge causing it to collapse

A ship has hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, causing it to collapse, authorities said.

www.foxnews.com

Fortunately it only ended in 6 casualties.

Container Ship Dali Power Failure - What Happened?

Introduction and Warning I am not a ship’s officer or crew and never have been. I do watch nerdy Youtube channels like those by actual merchant marine Chief Engineers because I just like these ...

www.dailykos.com

 

[DudleySmith]

Watched the video of the crash, and it looked intentional to me... The smoke coming out of the stack appeared as if the ship was ordered at full power prior to impact.

And it takes many minutes to move that much weight faster, so that means nothing. If it were moving much faster it would have pushed on through instead of being stopped.

 

[AyeCantSeeYou]

It appears that engine power was restored just a few seconds before the ship hit the bridge.

The engines NEVER recovered. They are dead.

Cargo ship hits Baltimore's Key Bridge, causing it to collapse; 6 presumed dead - Maryland Daily Record

A cargo ship lost power and rammed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, destroying the 1,200-foot span in a matter of seconds.

thedailyrecord.com

Clay Diamond, executive director of the American Pilots’ Association, said he has been in close contact with officials from the Association of Maryland Pilots who described to him what happened as the ship approached the bridge. He said when the ship was a few minutes out, it lost all power, including to its engines.

The pilot immediately ordered the rudder hard to port to keep the ship from turning right and ordered the port anchor be dropped, which it was, Diamond said. The pilot also contacted a dispatch office to get the bridge shut down.

Diamond said widely circulated images show the ship’s lights turning off and then back on, sparking questions about whether the vessel had regained power. But, he said, the emergency generators that kicked in turned the lights back on but not the ship’s propulsion.

 

[tahuyaman]

The engines NEVER recovered. They are dead.

Cargo ship hits Baltimore's Key Bridge, causing it to collapse; 6 presumed dead - Maryland Daily Record

A cargo ship lost power and rammed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, destroying the 1,200-foot span in a matter of seconds.

thedailyrecord.com

Clay Diamond, executive director of the American Pilots’ Association, said he has been in close contact with officials from the Association of Maryland Pilots who described to him what happened as the ship approached the bridge. He said when the ship was a few minutes out, it lost all power, including to its engines.

The pilot immediately ordered the rudder hard to port to keep the ship from turning right and ordered the port anchor be dropped, which it was, Diamond said. The pilot also contacted a dispatch office to get the bridge shut down.

Diamond said widely circulated images show the ship’s lights turning off and then back on, sparking questions about whether the vessel had regained power. But, he said, the emergency generators that kicked in turned the lights back on but not the ship’s propulsion.

Looking at the videos, it appeared that the engine power was restored just couple of seconds before the crash. It’s moot point as it would have needed to be restored at least five minutes earlier.

 

[WEATHER53]

Wrong. Without power, the ship would move in the direction the currents forced it.

It would seem like current would be in the channel and move boat out toward the Bay and not steer it to the right and toward shore . There really is not enough open fetch at 12-15 mph winds to take control of the boat

 

[WEATHER53]

The engines NEVER recovered. They are dead.

Cargo ship hits Baltimore's Key Bridge, causing it to collapse; 6 presumed dead - Maryland Daily Record

A cargo ship lost power and rammed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, destroying the 1,200-foot span in a matter of seconds.

thedailyrecord.com

Clay Diamond, executive director of the American Pilots’ Association, said he has been in close contact with officials from the Association of Maryland Pilots who described to him what happened as the ship approached the bridge. He said when the ship was a few minutes out, it lost all power, including to its engines.

The pilot immediately ordered the rudder hard to port to keep the ship from turning right and ordered the port anchor be dropped, which it was, Diamond said. The pilot also contacted a dispatch office to get the bridge shut down.

Diamond said widely circulated images show the ship’s lights turning off and then back on, sparking questions about whether the vessel had regained power. But, he said, the emergency generators that kicked in turned the lights back on but not the ship’s propulsion.

You have great detail which I think prevails but I do read other details that do not confirm that the engines never started up again?

 

[tahuyaman]

It would seem like current would be in the channel and move boat out toward the Bay and not steer it to the right and toward shore . There really is not enough open fetch at 12-15 mph winds to take control of the boat

Currents are all over the place. Not just in the middle of a channel. Currents also move in different directions in various areas.

 

[beagle9]

Based on what?

How fast was the ship traveling when it struck the bridge?

Who was onboard?

What cargo did it carry?

Strictly on the movements wouldn't you say ? The right drift or turn is an interesting one for starters.

 

[beagle9]

You have great detail which I think prevails but I do read other details that do not confirm that the engines never started up again?

Also that smoke, what was it from ?

 

[beagle9]

Currents are all over the place. Not just in the middle of a channel. Currents also move in different directions in various areas.

Currents would be effective, but the weight or tonnage of the vessel is a huge factor in movements by currents.

 

[AyeCantSeeYou]

You have great detail which I think prevails but I do read other details that do not confirm that the engines never started up again?

MSN

A preliminary review, Muise said, revealed sensor data showing the ship’s speed and when alarms went off. Audio recorders captured the local pilot, aboard to guide the ship through the harbor and shipping channel, making steering commands and rudder orders. At about 1:25 a.m., mere minutes before the crash, several alarms went off, he said. “At the same time, VDR sensor data stopped recording.”

Muise said the audio continued recording, capturing the pilot’s orders to drop an anchor, reporting a loss of power, calling for tugboat assistance and giving a “mayday” signal. Officials have said the mayday helped prevent more casualties because police stationed on the bridge were able to close it to traffic.

 

[AZrailwhale]

It's hilarious how tiny the tugboats are that are supposed to be 'guiding' these giants into docks. And people are claiming we don't need new port facilities to handle these monsters. They need to be removed from choked up urban congested areas.

Those "tiny" tugboats are mostly engine. The have incredible towing and pushing power.

 

[RoshawnMarkwees]

Wrong. Without power, the ship would move in the direction the currents forced it.

I doubt any current that close to shore and in water that shallow would overwhelm the ship’s existing momentum.

 

[AZrailwhale]

Are you really this stupid? You don't know that Act of God is a legal term used in this context?

IF the ship was having electrical problems before leaving the dock, the insurance company won't be able to call it an act of God. It was a maintenance failure. What's going to be interesting is what orders the captain got from the owners. If they ordered the ship to sail despite knowing it had electrical problems they are going to be in big trouble. They might even be facing murder charges for reckless endangerment.

 

[tahuyaman]

I doubt any current that close to shore and in water that shallow would overwhelm the ship’s existing momentum.

Then you have no clue how powerful currents can be. Plus the ship is so big, the it’s almost a sail if the wind is strong and helping the currents.

Every ship captain or harbor pilot would agree with me 100%.

 

[AZrailwhale]

A ship needs engine power to steer. A ship doesn’t turn just because you rotate the rudders. The propellers need to be forcing water past the rudders to steer. The propellers are not turned through electrical power. Large diesel engines do that.

You need water flow over the rudder. The speed over ground of eight knots would provide at least some steering. Yes the propwash would provide more, but if the engine was in reverse, there would be no propwash and the rudder would operate in reverse form the way it would with normal waterflow. Plus, if the ship is single screw, the stern will tend to move in the direction that the prop is rotating. I had a twenty-seven-foot sailboat and no matter what you did with the rudder when in reverse, the stern moved in the direction the prop turned. To maneuver backwards, I had to build up some speed, then shift into neutral, and then turn the boat.

 

[tahuyaman]

IF the ship was having electrical problems before leaving the dock, the insurance company won't be able to call it an act of God. It was a maintenance failure. What's going to be interesting is what orders the captain got from the owners. If they ordered the ship to sail despite knowing it had electrical problems they are going to be in big trouble. They might even be facing murder charges for reckless endangerment.

Currents would be effective, but the weight or tonnage of the vessel is a huge factor in movements by currents.

Yes it is. Once the current grabs a hold of those bigs ships during an engine failure bad things happen. when they get moving with the current, they don’t stop until they hit something or get forced aground.

It’s even dangerous out in the open ocean if they lose engine power in rough seas. The current can turn them sideways and the rough seas will cause them to capsize.