Container Ship Strikes Scott Key Bridge in MD

No headlights on a ship. Perhaps the mast light. Looks like the ship was backing from the black coming out of the stack. Report is the Port Anchor was dropped-but that would not stop the ship at 10kts speed.
 
It looks like the power was out for a good ten (10) seconds, before it came back on and then you see them doing everything they can to avoid the collision:



That ship was a lot further over toward that right bank on the video than any of the ship tracks I have seen, today.
 
It could be the angle, but in the video above it kind of looks like they dropped anchor at 0:13 and veered hard right and by 0:40 were starting to turn left again when they hit the bridge. (Check out the amount of reflected light down the right side of the ship.) You can't tell what direction they were pointing at any moment or what the captain was seeing, so we'll have to wait for the interviews and reconstructions. But that's an immense object to try to maneuver if there's any breakdown in controls, just vast amounts of inertia that you can only really deflect, not stop effectively.
 
Wow. This is a once in a lifetime mishap. In a morbid way I’m glad it happened at 1am. The loss of life on 695 during rush hour could have been catastrophic.

Would it be an overreaction to call this a potential watershed moment for the maritime industry? Bridge construction, tug escorts, inspections, etc. are bound to be reviewed going forward.

I’ve spent hundreds of hours on the Bay and wondered about this exact scenario often.
 
Not sure if it will be a watershed moment. Doubt it. Ships can be escorted through bridges, but most Pilots don't like that as it slows down ship traffic. Escorts without a line tied to the aft end of the ship are not as effective as "active tethered escorts". There are multiple factors that can be studied and simulated before final changes are put into place. States sometimes enact legislation to require escorting...sometimes poorly written, often resisted by the USCG due to federal jurisdictional issues/concerns. Lots of moving parts to this transportation system.
 
I think the maintenance will be telling.

Similar in a way to what Boeing is going through.
 
News now is that all traffic on the bridge had been stopped. The people who went in the water were all from the Construction Crew filling pot holes on the bridge. 6 are still missing. The vehicles they've seen on sonar in the water are from the construction crew. No idea how long the area will be shut down to ships due to all the debris from the bridge in the water.
 
A1Janitor said:
FBI is investigating.

Potential cyber issue?
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Possible, but unlikely. Ships are supposed to have a Cyber Risk Assessment. The integrity of that assessment is largely dependent on two parties: 1. Flag State and 2. The ship operator. All this comes down to how well the ship is managed from the shoreside perspective. This will have human error as a causal factor.
 
According to an online source I have, the MV DALI went through a routine Port State inspection by the US Coast Guard in the port of New York on September 13th 2023. No deficiencies were noted at that time. However on the previous Port State inspection in San Antonio, Chile on the 27th of June 2023 there was one deficiency. The deficiency category was 'Propulsion and auxiliary machinery'. Although there isn't much detail, the deficiency had to do with 'Gauges,thermometers, etc' and it was corrected before sailing.. The ship shows to have had a pretty clean record. Of the 27 Port State Inspections she has undergone, there have only been two deficiencies noted; and one was not related to Propulsion and Machinery..
 
Note the ship swung to starboard quickly just before hitting the bridge. Im thinking this may be that she let her starboard anchor go and it started fetching up causing the right hand turn at the last minute. The Port anchor was in the water but appears not to have done much. Of course the speed of the ship needs to be below about 3 kts. for the anchors to do any good.
 
Don't Give Up the Ship said:
Note the ship swung to starboard quickly just before hitting the bridge. Im thinking this may be that she let her starboard anchor go and it started fetching up causing the right hand turn at the last minute. The Port anchor was in the water but appears not to have done much. Of course the speed of the ship needs to be below about 3 kts. for the anchors to do any good.
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And what is the purpose of that? To steer away from the bridge?

I cannot imagine the frantic activity onboard as all realized what was happening….
 
justdoit19 said:
And what is the purpose of that? To steer away from the bridge?

I cannot imagine the frantic activity onboard as all realized what was happening….
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Dropping the anchors was likely an attempt to slow and stop the ship. Too bad the Pilot could not have steered out of the channel and grounded the ship-thats often the best choice. It's really hard to backseat drive these situations.
 
Was the speed of the ship just before the allision in the safe range? I read a statement from a Maryland government official (Mayor or Governor I can't remember right now) saying that the speed was excessive. I saw 8 knots at max, but idk if that is safe for that size ship in that area or not.
 
Don't Give Up the Ship said:
Note the ship swung to starboard quickly just before hitting the bridge. Im thinking this may be that she let her starboard anchor go and it started fetching up causing the right hand turn at the last minute. The Port anchor was in the water but appears not to have done much. Of course the speed of the ship needs to be below about 3 kts. for the anchors to do any good.
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The swing to starboard could also been caused when they put the astern bell on to try and stop the ship. With a single screw fixed pitch right-hand turning propeller the stern will 'walk' to port and the bow will swing to starboard when you back the engine.. The anchors aren't gonna do much good unless you set the brakes on those wildcats or throw the riding pawls to get them to fetch up.. and I'm sure when the crew on the focsle head saw they were gonna hit they weren't worrying about any of that; they were running for cover..
Ihavenoidea said:
Was the speed of the ship just before the allision in the safe range? I read a statement from a Maryland government official (Mayor or Governor I can't remember right now) saying that the speed was excessive. I saw 8 knots at max, but idk if that is safe for that size ship in that area or not.
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The speed looks okay to me too. The pilot probably had her on a 'slow ahead' bell for that 7~8 knots of speed.
 
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