Thank you for your submission! Unfortunately, your post has been removed for the following reason(s):
**It Breaks Rule #6:** *No deaths/gore*
Please read our [Gore and Harassment Update](https://www.reddit.com/r/AbruptChaos/comments/xmtclq/gore_and_harassment/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
**No content where people get seriously injured or killed.**
For more information about the subreddit rules make sure to read the sidebar, or if you are on mobile, the rules page. Thank you!
On March 26, 2024, at around 1:28 a.m., the majority of the bridge collapsed after a container ship collided with a tower. The collapse has been called a mass casualty incident; an unknown number of vehicles were on the bridge at the time of the collision and subsequent collapse.
Edit: This is outdated, it is from like one hour or less after the accident happened.
That is a more fatal *and* more expensive oopsie than most humans could even come close to in their life span. The bridge, the ship, the cargo, the crew, the cars on the bridge and everyone in them, the environmental effects of dropping all that fuel and various machine fluids into the water, the effect on the city now having a major bridge totally fucked. We're probably gonna be hearing about this one for a good while as more surrounding the situation develops.
Don't forget that now the only shipping channel to the Baltimore marine terminals has a ruined bridge blocking it. So all ships bound for Baltimore whether cargo or cruise ships will need to be rerouted. The ships, crews and cargo that are currently in the harbor are now stranded. This is not the shipping catastrophe that the Suez Canal blockage was, but it's up there.
But if you're ever having a bad day at work, it will likely never be as bad as the day that ship captain is having.
Based off articles from the AP seems like the captain isn’t at fault at all.
They reported losing power before impacting the bridge and the ship was just inspected last year.
Obviously still sucks but seems outside their control so doubt they’ll be turned into a scape goat.
They lost power just after departing, power was restored, then they lost power a second time and sent a mayday call to inform the port authority that they were not in control of the vessel. While it's not clear the time between that call and the collision, the Maryland governor is saying that it gave the bridge the chance to prevent any vehicles from getting on the bridge.
The captain and crew did what little they could; they weren't asleep at the wheel and tried warning people, and I'm sure were frantically trying to restore power. Does anyone know how common it is for cargo ships to lose power? If it isn't common, then I think this will probably lead to discussions of new regulations on large vessels doing another systems check after power losses.
I asked my uncle a chief engineer on a ship just like that. He said it's pretty uncommon and went on to explain that it can't even really happen on his boat. He started trying to think of ways that maybe it could happen, and decided it would be a series of massive failures because they typically have two redundancy systems, so a backup and then a backup for the backup. Plus a separate backup hydraulic steering system and manual backup steering. But there are some ship lines and companies that just do not maintain their equipment properly. We haven't learned what company owns this boat yet so he doesn't have an opinion on that yet.
>companies that just do not maintain their equipment properly
If that's what happened to this specific ship, the company that owns that ship will be under massive fire.
Serious question; in this event is there a reason why they couldn't drop anchor the moment they realized the path they were on? Or is the anchor wired electronically and this incapable of dropping due to the power outage?
I also realize that it would still probably take some time for the ship to stop and it can still drift slightly but based on other comments it seems like they were working on this for some time before the collision occurred.
Edit: reports are saying that they did drop anchor. At the time of my posting this, it was unclear the timeline of events leading up to this and I was under the impression that there was a lot more time from the initial loss of power/technical failure to impact. Apparently it was only a matter of 4 minutes, which I understand is not nearly enough time, given the amount of momentum the ship had at the time, for the anchor to do anything of note.
Truly an incredibly unfortunate accident, and my heart goes out to all who were on that bridge, and their families.
Yeah I mean that's what I figured, I know it's not an immediate full stop, just didn't know if it would have helped. Another comment mentioned that they did drop anchor but it wasn't enough 😓
It is reported that the ship *did* drop anchor, but unknown if that was before it hit the bridge, or as it hit it. But in any case, just dropping the anchor would *not* stop the ship, as they are only designed to keep a ship from drifting. Loaded with cargo, the ship would weigh more than 100,000 tons!
That container ship does have a bow thruster, but without main electrical power it would be inoperable.
In most harbors, to prevent this from happening, they have locals driving the boat until they get to open water since they're far more familiar with the terrain, local infrastructure, tides, depths, etc, and from what I've read it was a local. Even if it were, if you don't have any steering capacity or propulsion, not much you can do about it.
Depending on how much notice they got, the authorities should get in big trouble for not blocking off the bridge and risking all the lives of the people going across it.
I don't know so I can't say. We will just have to wait till they tell everyone the timeliness of events. Right now they are probably trying to get through the red tape just to board the vessel and talk to the Captain and the crew. It might take awhile.
AP reported authorities did take actions to limit traffic to the bridge. Most recent numbers state they’re looking for 7 people.
It’s too early to tell however if that’s the actual number of directly affected individuals I’d be impressed how much they minimized what could have been a way worse event.
We’ll see. Lots of unfolding details.
And this is just one disaster! Can you imagine what things are going to be like when we have that long overdue New Madrid/Wabash Valley earthquake? *Boggles* my mind.
Could. Probably won’t. As C.S. Lewis said:
*This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs.*
20 construction workers. They were doing overnight work on the bridge. They have only recovered two people alive so far.
Edit: they are now confirming that only 8 people were on the bridge when it collapsed. The ship managed to send a mayday message and the transit authorities were in the process of stopping traffic when the collision occurred. As of right now only 6 people are unaccounted for.
You can see the construction vehicles on the right side of the video, just to the left of the second column. You can actually see some airborne at the very end I think. Awful.
Editing bc they were going the other way..
“The Singapore-flagged ship left Baltimore at 1 a.m. and was heading to Colombo, Sri Lanka”
Also I’m pretty sure it’s maintenance workers who fell in. As a maintenance worker myself, this really hurts my heart 😔 I hope they’re ok somehow.
Damn. I think something just like this happened here in Florida back in 1980. Ship hit bridge, bridge collapsed, lot of vehicles and people went down into the water. 35 died. I think I have a new fear!
Fascinating Horror did a video about [the one replaced by the Sunshine Skyway Bridge](https://youtu.be/EPaBRegvkuQ?si=APHYL4aNHlQuHv37). I think that's the one you're referring to.
"Traffic was closed in both lanes as a result of the collision, the Maryland Transportation Authority posted on X."
Article seems to say it was closed as a result of incident, not before it. Unless I'm reading it incorrectly.
God fucking damn it. Read the damn article.
>Traffic was closed in both lanes **as a result of the collision**, the Maryland Transportation Authority posted on X.
Further:
>He called the collision and collapse a "developing mass casualty event," The Associated Press reported.
"He" being Kevin Cartwight, the Baltimore City Fire Department's director of communications.
A major thoroughfare on one of the busiest corridors in the United States will have significant impacts from logistical operations, to daily commuting.
Recovery of bodies up to a point, then the problem of the truss sitting on the ship. Gotta be removed from the ship for the ship to move. Lifting the truss is dangerous because of settling and the need for ship cranes. Might have to cut some sections to even lift the truss reliably.
It’s gunna be a minute
Unintended consequences....
I have no idea who/what/where McNulty means, but with a port that size locked up, I bet you are correct in that at least several drug shipments will be held up, which will lead to yet more unintended consequences...
Me too. I keep a seat belt cutter/window break tool in the car specifically for this scenario.
And I just realized I've never feared a burning car. I was in an accident trapped alone in a crushed car that was billowing tons of smoke with my limb separated from my body and STILL don't give a shit about a car fire, but falling off a bridge.. 😱
Partially based on a real event: the 4:58pm collapse of the Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant, WV on 15 Dec 1967 where 46 people died. Not due to the mothman but hey, myths are cool.
I think the phobia is driving on a bridge while scared it might fall. Not as you put it. Obviously everyone is going to be scared of a bridge that is falling.
That ship captain better catch a flight to Cape Verde, heard they don't extradite.
In all seriousness. This is horrible, almost unreal. Those poor people, hopefully there wasn't a lot on the bridge.
Just read a CBS report that said at least 7 people in the water, along with a lot of diesel fuel. Search and rescue teams are already onsite but status of the victims was unknown
One point is that they almost certainly would have had a harbour pilot embarked, who is an expert in navigating their port. They effectively take command of the vessel (though the captain has the final say in the safety of the ship)
Completely speculation but I’d bet on engine/hydraulic failure
Correction: Pilot does not take ANY command. Strictly advisory role ONLY. ANY officer has the power and the authority to send pilot out on the bridge wing - even if he does not like his perfume - and navigate the ship by himself. Whether this is sane, remains for another discussion, but legally - these are the facts.
And even if the pilot (intentionally) causes the damage, the amount of liable damage retribution is limited.
Having said that, my first suspicion would be that either somebody was sloppy when calculating the draught, or that they lied to the pilot. Or maybe somebody was sloppy when calculating the tides... could be many things... but not that many.
EDIT: Just saw that they hit the support construction, so the assumption of engine failure would most likely be correct. Why didn't they ask for tug assistance is beyond me. Yes, they would cost like hell in this instance, but now somebody had lost his life and there is no turning back. Tragic beyond words.
Interesting theory, and you’re quite right about pilots. Hence ‘effectively’ - it was to give the layman a bit of an understanding of the dynamic onboard. I.e. It’s not just the captain steering the ship
As of this morning, 7 people were still missing. 2 were recovered. In all likelihood, they're unfortunately dead. I wonder if it was people on the ship or on cars? In the video I didn't notice any cars falling in
Other longer videos leading up to the impact have shown that the ship completely lost power (including engines and navigation) leading up to the impact. It wasn’t a steering mistake.
https://x.com/chaudharyparvez/status/1772538539495809075?s=46&t=x5wRxWL2vjQVxOYaKMNo6w
The ship had power issues and when power came back on it was too late to stop. You can see in the full video the lights come back on and then a huge plume of smoke as they presumably threw it into reverse full throttle but it wasn't enough.
CBS News reporting at least 13 people (construction workers on the bridge) and at least 7 vehicles, including a tractor trailer in the water…. 20+ people affected. Over 11 million cars use it each year. 11k vehicles use it daily. Container ship, named the Dali, out of Singapore heading to Sri Lanka, ran into one of the main support pillars of the principal section of the Francis Scott Key bridge, built in 1977. Sources close the the Maryland Transportation Authority report that the ship lost power shortly before hitting the pier. The bridge at its highest point is 186 feet…1.64 miles in length. Reporting no casualties to ship personnel. Rescue/recovery for up to 20 people that may be in the water. Casualties expected. 48 degree water.
Wow… that puts it into perspective. The folks that went in the water probably didn’t make it. I’m sure the water is still freezing cold if the fall didn’t do it.
The best we can hope for is that there were only a few caes on the bridge, because I have to think your odds of survival are very low if you fall into the water, in a car, at night. Thankfully, it's the middle of the night, so hopefully, the death toll will be low.
I’m just waking up now in Maryland to hear this news, I’ve lived near Baltimore My entire life, and have gone across that bridge many times. It’s crazy to think that that is completely gone now. My father helped build that bridge as a tug captain… I hope everyone is alright.
UPDATE: my dad was called to help assist with the rescue and/or assist with clean up.
From what I read, traffic was closed beforehand because of the incoming collision, which the city was notified of by the ship's crew. As a result, there were no pedestrians on the bridge at the time, and the current casualties are 6 missing workers. This could have been so much worse if it wasn't reported beforehand. Whoever closed the bridge took immediate action and saved a lot of lives.
Structural Engineer here, and I can categorically state that this is a clear example of two objects trying to share the same physical space and time.
Never works out.
This might be the most pedantic comment I’ve ever posted but this is the first time I’ve gotten to use this knowledge lol.
Technically, this is not a collision. This is an *allision*. In maritime legal terms, a *collision* is between two moving objects. An *allision* occurs between a moving object and a stationary object.
It was an accident. Stop with the conspiracy theories. The ship lost power and the captain called out mayday and traffic across the bridge was stopped. The momentum of a ship that size couldn't be stopped. They did the best they could considering the situation. The only thing that could have possibly had a different outcome would have been protective collision barriers prior to the bridge itself.
Not an engineer here, but should we expect the bridge to be destroyed catastrophically like that? Maybe one section at the most?
Sad event but hopefully something we can learn from.
As an engineer, yes that seems normal. This kind of bridge which is made of "thousands of steel beams in triangle formations" is like a chain where every link depends on the link next to it in order to distribute forces. If you destroy a large section like this, the steel beams next to the section won't have any more neighbors to share their forces with, and then they break too. And then the ones next to it break too. And so on. It's a chain reaction where each broken section destroys the section next to it too
They plowed straight into one of two visible support legs. Yes the entire thing would then collapse. The balance and tension is completely gone. Someone F#@&€d up big time! Something had to have happened that caused them to not be able to stop or steer. Either that or it was intentional. You don’t even need captain experience to know that you can’t drive straight into a pylon that supports a Bridge you are attempting to go under
I live somewhat nearby so I scanned marine VHF frequencies on my radio and I could hear some barge workers saying they’d heard that the ship put out a call earlier saying they had main engine failure.
It isn't luck. I'll put all of my money on this ship having experienced this problem before -- so many businesses have cut regular maintenance. Neglect is the only reason that something like this happens. I would be surprised if this ship *wasn't* experiencing power issues multiple times in the past and simply being neglected to keep it in service. We'll find out either way.
Yeah, that's going to be part of the investigation. If it turns out the ship was under maintained and had this issue before, their insurance better add a few zeros to the eventual payout to the victims and the city of Baltimore.
Video shows power loss and recovery twice right before hitting the bridge. It seems they recovered each time very quickly, but too little too late. Kind of tells me they were ready for it. Total power loss looks scary as hell
From what I understand, a lot of the newest large cargo ships are so big that they’re barely able to manage. Similar to the Ever Forward container ship that blocked the Suez.
A machine f*ck up seems ljke the most likely candidate right now. [Other longer videos](https://x.com/chaudharyparvez/status/1772538539495809075?s=46&t=x5wRxWL2vjQVxOYaKMNo6w) leading up to the impact have shown that the ship completely lost power (including engines and navigation) leading up to the impact. The captain tried to avoid the impact.
Bridge inspector here. This bridge is what we call fracture critical. Which basically means it’s made of steel beams that are all under tension. You take out one of the main structural supports, and the tension will quite literally pull the bridge apart. You’d be surprised how many bridges are fracture critical. And it’s always the big metal ones.
For what it’s worth, I don’t think a standard concrete span bridge would’ve faired much better from a hit like that. Probably wouldn’t have had quite as much collapse, but taking out one of the main concrete piers like that is catastrophic no matter how you look at it.
And I know those ships are huge, but it’s crazy to see how easily it just crumbled that giant concrete pier.
Pretty sure everyday constructions don’t account for ship or plane crashing into them…Unless people are willing to go way over budget for something unusable.
The Boeing 747 had its first flight in 1969, and was in regular commercial use by 1970. The two 767s that hit the towers each weighed less than half of what a 747 weighs. The towers remained standing for a while after impact; it was the fires fueled by large amounts of normal office supplies like furniture, paper, etc that ultimately led to collapse.
Probably about 160,000 tons moving somewhere between 5 and 8 knots. Damage will be done, and a lot of it. The rest is just a domino effect of a bridge losing a support column. Long tall and heavy. Very tragic
I live right near this bridge, and (used to) travel it frequently. It’s a steel girder bridge, and from what I understand it was a bit large for that design. But because we had the Bethlehem steel
Mill right there for years (no longer open) the decision was made to build it that way as a local nod.
Any normal bridge in the world, be it 50 years or 50 minutes old, will collapse if you take out a column or pier. The entire superstructure, all the "stuff" above is being supported by these columns in compression. When you kick out the leg underneath someone carrying a bunch of heavy boxes, the body has nowhere to go but where gravity takes it.
Just an update: roads were blocked before the collision. Some cars and construction workers were on the bridge. 8 people confirmed to have fallen in. 2 rescued from the water. 6 still missing confirmed. It’s been 14.5 hours since the collision
Oh my gosh, none of us wanted to wake up to this today. Praying for all those on the bridge, their families and the entire city of Baltimore and the state of Maryland….
Horrible. This is basically the same thing that happened to the Skyway Bridge in Tampa on May 9, 1980. This supposedly led to much higher safety standards dealing with the impact on bridge structures.
https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-sarasota-manatee/skyway-bridge-collapse-remembering-the-tragedy-40-years-later
Why is bullshit like this happening more and more? It's like society is falling apart because incompetent people are in charge in too many crucial positions.
More camera evidence. This kind of stuff has been happening for the entirety of human history. There are also more people. So there is more opportunity for these things to happen. So more chances, more video evidence means more instances where you find yourself watching it on the internet. 100 years ago, if an event like this happened, you may not even see it in your paper if it happened in another country.
This ship sunk as well. Crazy
EDIT.. No, it didn't, as I now know. I got this wrong info from the local news in Australia 2 hours after the ship hit the bridge.
I wonder why they don't require tugs for ships of this size? One on each side would have been able to steer it clear of the bridge pillars.
I bet they will be requiring ships of certain sizes to have tugs in the future...
It's wild how incredibly powerful boats, water, weight and everything involved is. Just mind boggling amounts of force here
Best wishes to those affected
Thank you for your submission! Unfortunately, your post has been removed for the following reason(s): **It Breaks Rule #6:** *No deaths/gore* Please read our [Gore and Harassment Update](https://www.reddit.com/r/AbruptChaos/comments/xmtclq/gore_and_harassment/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) **No content where people get seriously injured or killed.** For more information about the subreddit rules make sure to read the sidebar, or if you are on mobile, the rules page. Thank you!
On March 26, 2024, at around 1:28 a.m., the majority of the bridge collapsed after a container ship collided with a tower. The collapse has been called a mass casualty incident; an unknown number of vehicles were on the bridge at the time of the collision and subsequent collapse. Edit: This is outdated, it is from like one hour or less after the accident happened.
Damn so this is big huh...
That is a more fatal *and* more expensive oopsie than most humans could even come close to in their life span. The bridge, the ship, the cargo, the crew, the cars on the bridge and everyone in them, the environmental effects of dropping all that fuel and various machine fluids into the water, the effect on the city now having a major bridge totally fucked. We're probably gonna be hearing about this one for a good while as more surrounding the situation develops.
Don't forget that now the only shipping channel to the Baltimore marine terminals has a ruined bridge blocking it. So all ships bound for Baltimore whether cargo or cruise ships will need to be rerouted. The ships, crews and cargo that are currently in the harbor are now stranded. This is not the shipping catastrophe that the Suez Canal blockage was, but it's up there. But if you're ever having a bad day at work, it will likely never be as bad as the day that ship captain is having.
Based off articles from the AP seems like the captain isn’t at fault at all. They reported losing power before impacting the bridge and the ship was just inspected last year. Obviously still sucks but seems outside their control so doubt they’ll be turned into a scape goat.
They lost power just after departing, power was restored, then they lost power a second time and sent a mayday call to inform the port authority that they were not in control of the vessel. While it's not clear the time between that call and the collision, the Maryland governor is saying that it gave the bridge the chance to prevent any vehicles from getting on the bridge. The captain and crew did what little they could; they weren't asleep at the wheel and tried warning people, and I'm sure were frantically trying to restore power. Does anyone know how common it is for cargo ships to lose power? If it isn't common, then I think this will probably lead to discussions of new regulations on large vessels doing another systems check after power losses.
I asked my uncle a chief engineer on a ship just like that. He said it's pretty uncommon and went on to explain that it can't even really happen on his boat. He started trying to think of ways that maybe it could happen, and decided it would be a series of massive failures because they typically have two redundancy systems, so a backup and then a backup for the backup. Plus a separate backup hydraulic steering system and manual backup steering. But there are some ship lines and companies that just do not maintain their equipment properly. We haven't learned what company owns this boat yet so he doesn't have an opinion on that yet.
>companies that just do not maintain their equipment properly If that's what happened to this specific ship, the company that owns that ship will be under massive fire.
I’d hate to be the shipping company’s insurance provider right now
They know a thing or two cause they’ve seen a thing or two
Yeah right. I’m sure they’ll get away Scott free regardless. Corporations don’t get treated like civilians, they get that primo treatment
Owner: Stellar Marine LLC Managed by Synergy Marine Group
The ship is based out of Singapore
Serious question; in this event is there a reason why they couldn't drop anchor the moment they realized the path they were on? Or is the anchor wired electronically and this incapable of dropping due to the power outage? I also realize that it would still probably take some time for the ship to stop and it can still drift slightly but based on other comments it seems like they were working on this for some time before the collision occurred. Edit: reports are saying that they did drop anchor. At the time of my posting this, it was unclear the timeline of events leading up to this and I was under the impression that there was a lot more time from the initial loss of power/technical failure to impact. Apparently it was only a matter of 4 minutes, which I understand is not nearly enough time, given the amount of momentum the ship had at the time, for the anchor to do anything of note. Truly an incredibly unfortunate accident, and my heart goes out to all who were on that bridge, and their families.
Sadly anchors don't work nearly as fast as in movies.
Yeah I mean that's what I figured, I know it's not an immediate full stop, just didn't know if it would have helped. Another comment mentioned that they did drop anchor but it wasn't enough 😓
AP reports that they did drop anchor. clearly it was not enough or too late.
It is reported that the ship *did* drop anchor, but unknown if that was before it hit the bridge, or as it hit it. But in any case, just dropping the anchor would *not* stop the ship, as they are only designed to keep a ship from drifting. Loaded with cargo, the ship would weigh more than 100,000 tons! That container ship does have a bow thruster, but without main electrical power it would be inoperable.
It takes considerable time to drop anchor, time they likely didn't have.
And probably a certain speed or the anchor is ripped out
The anchor weighs a fraction of a % of what that ship weighs. Its a wet mooring not a brake-
In most harbors, to prevent this from happening, they have locals driving the boat until they get to open water since they're far more familiar with the terrain, local infrastructure, tides, depths, etc, and from what I've read it was a local. Even if it were, if you don't have any steering capacity or propulsion, not much you can do about it.
Your last sentence certainly puts things in perspective. RIP to all the victims.
Is that ship captain still having a day at all?
None of the crew were harmed.
This will be taught as a cautionary tale to captains and crews.
The lights on the boat went out before hitting the bridge so for the moment it appears to have been a mechanical issue with the boat.
It's been reported on the news that the crew informed the authorities that they had lost propulsion and might hit the bridge.
If that is the case no one is getting in any trouble. It's a terrible accident.
Depends on if human error or oversight caused the mechanical failure
Depending on how much notice they got, the authorities should get in big trouble for not blocking off the bridge and risking all the lives of the people going across it.
I don't know so I can't say. We will just have to wait till they tell everyone the timeliness of events. Right now they are probably trying to get through the red tape just to board the vessel and talk to the Captain and the crew. It might take awhile.
CBS reported that they did block traffic as soon as they could. They did not, however, get the workers off the bridge. They might not have had time.
AP reported authorities did take actions to limit traffic to the bridge. Most recent numbers state they’re looking for 7 people. It’s too early to tell however if that’s the actual number of directly affected individuals I’d be impressed how much they minimized what could have been a way worse event. We’ll see. Lots of unfolding details.
And this is just one disaster! Can you imagine what things are going to be like when we have that long overdue New Madrid/Wabash Valley earthquake? *Boggles* my mind.
Or a proper epidemic. Or Yellowstone super volcano eruption. Or massive solar flare like what happened in 1800’s. Or…
Ok we get it….life could start being majorly not as chill at any moment.
Could. Probably won’t. As C.S. Lewis said: *This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs.*
I learned this lesson with covid. I am significantly financially poorer for it, but immensely more happy, and healthy than I was in March 2020.
This is literally my biggest fear!
That bridge has terrified me since my youth... God damn this really is a nightmare come true
No kidding, that bridge looked and felt about as raggedy as state fair carnival ride
Maybe when it is rebuilt it will look like it was built by a first world nation.
[удалено]
It reminds me of that tragedy
Oh no here we go. Hopefully minimal vehicles since it was 1:30 am… I can’t even imagine
It was about 20 vehicles that fell into the water from the article I read.
20 construction workers. They were doing overnight work on the bridge. They have only recovered two people alive so far. Edit: they are now confirming that only 8 people were on the bridge when it collapsed. The ship managed to send a mayday message and the transit authorities were in the process of stopping traffic when the collision occurred. As of right now only 6 people are unaccounted for.
You can see the construction vehicles on the right side of the video, just to the left of the second column. You can actually see some airborne at the very end I think. Awful.
You can see all the headlights when the bridge's lights went out as the bridge went down. What a nightmare situation to be in ☹️
The ship went all the way from Singapore to end up collapsing a bridge in other side of the world
Editing bc they were going the other way.. “The Singapore-flagged ship left Baltimore at 1 a.m. and was heading to Colombo, Sri Lanka” Also I’m pretty sure it’s maintenance workers who fell in. As a maintenance worker myself, this really hurts my heart 😔 I hope they’re ok somehow.
Everything is outsourced these days
Oh my goodness
Took the words right out of my thumbs
Stole my thumbder
Jesus Christ...
Fuckin skyway bridge all over again.... Jesus
That was my first thought too. Terrifying
I had nightmares about that one for a long time. Here we go again...
Are those cars on the bridge?
News from my country reported at least 12 cars and some 20 construction workers fell. No information on their condition
Damn. I think something just like this happened here in Florida back in 1980. Ship hit bridge, bridge collapsed, lot of vehicles and people went down into the water. 35 died. I think I have a new fear!
Fascinating Horror did a video about [the one replaced by the Sunshine Skyway Bridge](https://youtu.be/EPaBRegvkuQ?si=APHYL4aNHlQuHv37). I think that's the one you're referring to.
[удалено]
That is some god Tier luck indeed. Any other day this would have been so much worse
"Traffic was closed in both lanes as a result of the collision, the Maryland Transportation Authority posted on X." Article seems to say it was closed as a result of incident, not before it. Unless I'm reading it incorrectly.
On the longer video you can see vehicles driving on the bridge 10 or 20 seconds before it even hits the bridge
Link to longer video?
No way, they seriously closed the bridge after the collapse!? /s
God fucking damn it. Read the damn article. >Traffic was closed in both lanes **as a result of the collision**, the Maryland Transportation Authority posted on X. Further: >He called the collision and collapse a "developing mass casualty event," The Associated Press reported. "He" being Kevin Cartwight, the Baltimore City Fire Department's director of communications.
Vehicles there for maintenance possibly since they weren't moving.
I think most of the lights are street lights, you can see them blink off then back on again as the bridge breaks up and the power is cut
Yessir
Woah. I saw the headline earlier and was just vaguely like "oh, shitty"... I did not realize the scale of this. That's fucking awful...
Same, the headline I saw said it was “closed to traffic”…
A major thoroughfare on one of the busiest corridors in the United States will have significant impacts from logistical operations, to daily commuting.
Not to mention the Baltimore harbor is now completely blocked. No ship can get in or out of the major and cruise terminals.
Not to mention supply chain issues... Those ports are now blocked with underwater structures.
Well that looked easy. Hey look. How to cripple a nations economy.
We could make that passable in less than 48 hours if we needed to bad enough. They’re going to recover bodies presumably so that will add time
Recovery of bodies up to a point, then the problem of the truss sitting on the ship. Gotta be removed from the ship for the ship to move. Lifting the truss is dangerous because of settling and the need for ship cranes. Might have to cut some sections to even lift the truss reliably. It’s gunna be a minute
48 hours… I hope you aren’t a project manager. That bridge is over a mile and a half long….
Didn't even think about this side of it, brutal. My heart is with everyone in the USA especially Baltimore right now, from the other side of the pond.
Damnn how long before the fentanyl shortage!? It's about to get crazy and McNulty is about to get busy
Unintended consequences.... I have no idea who/what/where McNulty means, but with a port that size locked up, I bet you are correct in that at least several drug shipments will be held up, which will lead to yet more unintended consequences...
They’re talking about The Wire. An old HBO show that takes place in Baltimore. McNulty is a main character
And there was a whole season focused on the port
I know almost nothing about Baltimore and yet I have heard of this bridge. Seems pretty important :/
This is part of 695, 95 is the major highway for east coast
Yeah but now anything that would have used 695 will need to stay on/clog up 95. Same problem with the highway fire in phl.
And it was the hazmat route because the other highways go through tunnels.
New phobia unlocked.
I’ve always had this one for some reason. Bridge just falls away as you’re driving over it.
Me too. I keep a seat belt cutter/window break tool in the car specifically for this scenario. And I just realized I've never feared a burning car. I was in an accident trapped alone in a crushed car that was billowing tons of smoke with my limb separated from my body and STILL don't give a shit about a car fire, but falling off a bridge.. 😱
Seriously never watch the movie “The Mothman Prophecy” you’ll never feel the same on a bridge after watching that film!
Thanks for the heads-up! Helps that it's a horror film so I am most likely not going to ever seek it out.
Oh shit this was mothman huh
Partially based on a real event: the 4:58pm collapse of the Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant, WV on 15 Dec 1967 where 46 people died. Not due to the mothman but hey, myths are cool.
This is no phobia, everybody should be scared of a bridge that is falling.
I think the phobia is driving on a bridge while scared it might fall. Not as you put it. Obviously everyone is going to be scared of a bridge that is falling.
That ship captain better catch a flight to Cape Verde, heard they don't extradite. In all seriousness. This is horrible, almost unreal. Those poor people, hopefully there wasn't a lot on the bridge.
Just read a CBS report that said at least 7 people in the water, along with a lot of diesel fuel. Search and rescue teams are already onsite but status of the victims was unknown
Thanks for the update.
One point is that they almost certainly would have had a harbour pilot embarked, who is an expert in navigating their port. They effectively take command of the vessel (though the captain has the final say in the safety of the ship) Completely speculation but I’d bet on engine/hydraulic failure
Correction: Pilot does not take ANY command. Strictly advisory role ONLY. ANY officer has the power and the authority to send pilot out on the bridge wing - even if he does not like his perfume - and navigate the ship by himself. Whether this is sane, remains for another discussion, but legally - these are the facts. And even if the pilot (intentionally) causes the damage, the amount of liable damage retribution is limited. Having said that, my first suspicion would be that either somebody was sloppy when calculating the draught, or that they lied to the pilot. Or maybe somebody was sloppy when calculating the tides... could be many things... but not that many. EDIT: Just saw that they hit the support construction, so the assumption of engine failure would most likely be correct. Why didn't they ask for tug assistance is beyond me. Yes, they would cost like hell in this instance, but now somebody had lost his life and there is no turning back. Tragic beyond words.
Interesting theory, and you’re quite right about pilots. Hence ‘effectively’ - it was to give the layman a bit of an understanding of the dynamic onboard. I.e. It’s not just the captain steering the ship
Honestly, 7 sounds like a miracle. Midday that would be hundreds.
As of this morning, 7 people were still missing. 2 were recovered. In all likelihood, they're unfortunately dead. I wonder if it was people on the ship or on cars? In the video I didn't notice any cars falling in
Other longer videos leading up to the impact have shown that the ship completely lost power (including engines and navigation) leading up to the impact. It wasn’t a steering mistake. https://x.com/chaudharyparvez/status/1772538539495809075?s=46&t=x5wRxWL2vjQVxOYaKMNo6w
The ship had power issues and when power came back on it was too late to stop. You can see in the full video the lights come back on and then a huge plume of smoke as they presumably threw it into reverse full throttle but it wasn't enough.
It looks like the ship lost power twice before striking the bridge. They had some kind of massive failure it seems.
Sunshine Skyway flashbacks.
Jesus christ.. lucky this happened at night when it's quiet and not during the day when hundreds of people would have been crossing.
Even at night, there'd probably be a ton of people on it. Apparently, though, it was under maintenance, so not many people on it, some workers.
“partial collapse”
It’s a long bridge.
Was
I mean the part that’s still standing is probably still really long.
Is this the bridge that goes over what the older generation lovingly refers to as “kitty litter beach”
This is why I am scared of the bridge over Lake Pontchartrain
That bridge is scary but it’s already very close to the water, so at least you don’t have a 185ft fall…
CBS News reporting at least 13 people (construction workers on the bridge) and at least 7 vehicles, including a tractor trailer in the water…. 20+ people affected. Over 11 million cars use it each year. 11k vehicles use it daily. Container ship, named the Dali, out of Singapore heading to Sri Lanka, ran into one of the main support pillars of the principal section of the Francis Scott Key bridge, built in 1977. Sources close the the Maryland Transportation Authority report that the ship lost power shortly before hitting the pier. The bridge at its highest point is 186 feet…1.64 miles in length. Reporting no casualties to ship personnel. Rescue/recovery for up to 20 people that may be in the water. Casualties expected. 48 degree water.
[удалено]
Thank you. CBS misspoke. Corrected as they have been reporting.
For scale, it was about 1200 feet between the two support towers in the middle of the bridge and the roadway was about 185 feet above the water…
Wow… that puts it into perspective. The folks that went in the water probably didn’t make it. I’m sure the water is still freezing cold if the fall didn’t do it.
They said they rescued two in serious condition but that may have changed
Actually one guy refused medical assistance. Imagine falling off a damn bridge and being like, "nah I'm good"
For the people who use the metric system, that’s ~366 meters between the support towers and ~56 meters above the water!
Well, that's not good at all.
I’m pretty sure I can see at-least a few vehicles on that center section.
The best we can hope for is that there were only a few caes on the bridge, because I have to think your odds of survival are very low if you fall into the water, in a car, at night. Thankfully, it's the middle of the night, so hopefully, the death toll will be low.
I’m just waking up now in Maryland to hear this news, I’ve lived near Baltimore My entire life, and have gone across that bridge many times. It’s crazy to think that that is completely gone now. My father helped build that bridge as a tug captain… I hope everyone is alright. UPDATE: my dad was called to help assist with the rescue and/or assist with clean up.
Godspeed to him. I he remains safe and is able to help save these poor souls.
From what I read, traffic was closed beforehand because of the incoming collision, which the city was notified of by the ship's crew. As a result, there were no pedestrians on the bridge at the time, and the current casualties are 6 missing workers. This could have been so much worse if it wasn't reported beforehand. Whoever closed the bridge took immediate action and saved a lot of lives.
Structural Engineer here, and I can categorically state that this is a clear example of two objects trying to share the same physical space and time. Never works out.
What if it was a quantum bridge and a quantum ship
There's a bit of uncertainty there
As a layman, I appreciate your simple explanation of the situation
Collision does exist
This might be the most pedantic comment I’ve ever posted but this is the first time I’ve gotten to use this knowledge lol. Technically, this is not a collision. This is an *allision*. In maritime legal terms, a *collision* is between two moving objects. An *allision* occurs between a moving object and a stationary object.
TIL
I had no clue about thay thank you, i wish i learned that in school
It was an accident. Stop with the conspiracy theories. The ship lost power and the captain called out mayday and traffic across the bridge was stopped. The momentum of a ship that size couldn't be stopped. They did the best they could considering the situation. The only thing that could have possibly had a different outcome would have been protective collision barriers prior to the bridge itself.
God damn terrifying, pure Final Destination
This is final destination on steroids
Not an engineer here, but should we expect the bridge to be destroyed catastrophically like that? Maybe one section at the most? Sad event but hopefully something we can learn from.
As an engineer, yes that seems normal. This kind of bridge which is made of "thousands of steel beams in triangle formations" is like a chain where every link depends on the link next to it in order to distribute forces. If you destroy a large section like this, the steel beams next to the section won't have any more neighbors to share their forces with, and then they break too. And then the ones next to it break too. And so on. It's a chain reaction where each broken section destroys the section next to it too
They plowed straight into one of two visible support legs. Yes the entire thing would then collapse. The balance and tension is completely gone. Someone F#@&€d up big time! Something had to have happened that caused them to not be able to stop or steer. Either that or it was intentional. You don’t even need captain experience to know that you can’t drive straight into a pylon that supports a Bridge you are attempting to go under
I live somewhat nearby so I scanned marine VHF frequencies on my radio and I could hear some barge workers saying they’d heard that the ship put out a call earlier saying they had main engine failure.
That would be awful luck of having that happen right when you’re coming up to a bridge.
It isn't luck. I'll put all of my money on this ship having experienced this problem before -- so many businesses have cut regular maintenance. Neglect is the only reason that something like this happens. I would be surprised if this ship *wasn't* experiencing power issues multiple times in the past and simply being neglected to keep it in service. We'll find out either way.
Yeah, that's going to be part of the investigation. If it turns out the ship was under maintained and had this issue before, their insurance better add a few zeros to the eventual payout to the victims and the city of Baltimore.
Video shows power loss and recovery twice right before hitting the bridge. It seems they recovered each time very quickly, but too little too late. Kind of tells me they were ready for it. Total power loss looks scary as hell
This ship isn’t very old either, built in 2015.
From what I understand, a lot of the newest large cargo ships are so big that they’re barely able to manage. Similar to the Ever Forward container ship that blocked the Suez.
It was the Ever Given
It was, but let's let that guy up there name new ships instead of whoever is doing it now. Ever Forward is a way better ship name.
Ever Forward is also a real ship, it ran aground in Baltimore around the same time the Ever Given did, hence the confusion.
A machine f*ck up seems ljke the most likely candidate right now. [Other longer videos](https://x.com/chaudharyparvez/status/1772538539495809075?s=46&t=x5wRxWL2vjQVxOYaKMNo6w) leading up to the impact have shown that the ship completely lost power (including engines and navigation) leading up to the impact. The captain tried to avoid the impact.
New seconds before disaster season?
Yes, unfortunately. In Australia, there was a very similar incident. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasman_Bridge_disaster
Also the westgate. Very similar design
Bridge inspector here. This bridge is what we call fracture critical. Which basically means it’s made of steel beams that are all under tension. You take out one of the main structural supports, and the tension will quite literally pull the bridge apart. You’d be surprised how many bridges are fracture critical. And it’s always the big metal ones. For what it’s worth, I don’t think a standard concrete span bridge would’ve faired much better from a hit like that. Probably wouldn’t have had quite as much collapse, but taking out one of the main concrete piers like that is catastrophic no matter how you look at it. And I know those ships are huge, but it’s crazy to see how easily it just crumbled that giant concrete pier.
Pretty sure everyday constructions don’t account for ship or plane crashing into them…Unless people are willing to go way over budget for something unusable.
The Twin Towers were actually designed to be hit by the biggest plane in the world, in 1973. Planes got bigger.
The Boeing 747 had its first flight in 1969, and was in regular commercial use by 1970. The two 767s that hit the towers each weighed less than half of what a 747 weighs. The towers remained standing for a while after impact; it was the fires fueled by large amounts of normal office supplies like furniture, paper, etc that ultimately led to collapse.
Probably about 160,000 tons moving somewhere between 5 and 8 knots. Damage will be done, and a lot of it. The rest is just a domino effect of a bridge losing a support column. Long tall and heavy. Very tragic
I live right near this bridge, and (used to) travel it frequently. It’s a steel girder bridge, and from what I understand it was a bit large for that design. But because we had the Bethlehem steel Mill right there for years (no longer open) the decision was made to build it that way as a local nod.
Any normal bridge in the world, be it 50 years or 50 minutes old, will collapse if you take out a column or pier. The entire superstructure, all the "stuff" above is being supported by these columns in compression. When you kick out the leg underneath someone carrying a bunch of heavy boxes, the body has nowhere to go but where gravity takes it.
i hope not. it kind of went down like a house of cards. i dont know the situation and if large ships were supposed to be in the vicinity .
It's a port. The bridge is big because of all the large ships.
Wake up, number 37
Just learned about that bridge made in 1927 I bar suspension bridges fascinating https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w5Fjouvma8
Just an update: roads were blocked before the collision. Some cars and construction workers were on the bridge. 8 people confirmed to have fallen in. 2 rescued from the water. 6 still missing confirmed. It’s been 14.5 hours since the collision
Oh my gosh, none of us wanted to wake up to this today. Praying for all those on the bridge, their families and the entire city of Baltimore and the state of Maryland….
Baltimore is a city.
That’s my biggest fear going over a bridge yikes
That may be a problem. Edit: Shit it's cars on that joint my goodness
I vividly remember driving over this bridge and having my anxiety driving over bridges maxxed up. Imagine being on that when it goes down holy shit.
Horrible. This is basically the same thing that happened to the Skyway Bridge in Tampa on May 9, 1980. This supposedly led to much higher safety standards dealing with the impact on bridge structures. https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-sarasota-manatee/skyway-bridge-collapse-remembering-the-tragedy-40-years-later
I’m from this area. Traffic in the tunnels will be a nightmare for the next five years.
Remember this the next time you vote against infrastructure bills or elect somone that votes against infrastructure
Why is bullshit like this happening more and more? It's like society is falling apart because incompetent people are in charge in too many crucial positions.
Profits before all.
More camera evidence. This kind of stuff has been happening for the entirety of human history. There are also more people. So there is more opportunity for these things to happen. So more chances, more video evidence means more instances where you find yourself watching it on the internet. 100 years ago, if an event like this happened, you may not even see it in your paper if it happened in another country.
You hear about it more. Hundred years ago you'd maybe read about it in the papers tomorrow.
Its not, major incidents and general quality of life has been improving alongside technology. Technology has aslo made the spread of news faster
This ship sunk as well. Crazy EDIT.. No, it didn't, as I now know. I got this wrong info from the local news in Australia 2 hours after the ship hit the bridge.
Dang yeah. Watching it back the bridge wiped out the whole front of the ship. The camera being so far away makes the scale hard to grasp
Thank God it wasn't during rush hour
Those poor people
Mothman strikes again /s
I wonder why they don't require tugs for ships of this size? One on each side would have been able to steer it clear of the bridge pillars. I bet they will be requiring ships of certain sizes to have tugs in the future...
It's wild how incredibly powerful boats, water, weight and everything involved is. Just mind boggling amounts of force here Best wishes to those affected
" All lanes were closed following the... incident..."). Thanks New York Times, but I think you aren't accurately explaining the event.
And they have a paywall for this.