Container Ship Collapses the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore

[PeterChappell]

There's a more detailed plot of the course on this Youtube channel, which shows the narrowness of the channel and the key points at which the ship veers off.

It's interesting that more chaos is caused by these large container ships colliding with infrastructure rather than any direct attempt at sinking them. It wasn't long ago the Suez canal was blocked by one!

 

[Samuel Halpern]

With something like this in this era of keyboard analysts and social media controlled opinions, a Conspiracy Theory was bound to be put forward and it has been. I am sure there are people all over the world arguing back and forth about that in other forums and SM platforms with sharply polarized opinions about what happened, who was responsible etc. For what it is worth, at this stage, I personally do not believe that there was any conspiracy involved, but it is beginning to look like poor management and maintenance issues were behind it.

I tend to agree. As I've said more than once, fantastic stories and theories of conspiracy seem to thrive in the wake of exceptional events.

 

[Steven Christian]

The problem with this right now is the quality of information. I like many others have zero trust in the system. To borrow a saying from days past If the authorities today told me my mother loves me I would get a second source before I believed it. That being said...if it's true that the previous 2 days before they were experiencing electrical problems (tripping) I want to know what led to them to believe that it was good to go. Did they think they had it fixed or did they did they just do temp repairs to get them going and we'll work on it underway. Obviously they didn't have it fixed as results show. I'm only interested in the technical aspects of the failure. If it wasn't for electrical and control system failures I wouldn't have had a career. But Mr. Read does bring up an interesting point. They were awfully quick to say it wasn't something when they hadn't even been on the ship yet to inspect it. I would have to see their system before I could say one way or the other if that was a possibility. If their system was accessible then it could be hacked. To dismiss even the remote possibility that that could happen is being either ignorant or dishonest. The same outfits than ran out 2 hours later making these statements are the same ones telling us they don't know who blew up the Nordstream pipeline 2 years later. Yeah right.

 

[Steven Christian]

I tend to agree. As I've said more than once, fantastic stories and theories of conspiracy seem to thrive in the wake of exceptional events.

I agree. There is a whole industry of conspiracy theorists. The publishing business loves them. But I also believe the term conspiracy theorist has been over used now to the point that it doesn't mean much anymore.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

The latest and greatest until something better comes along:

Second temporary passage clears way for more smaller vessels past Key Bridge collapse site

Click on:​

MSN

 

[Michael H. Standart]

This is going to be a huge problem. Stability is already compromised and it get's trickier when the salvage teams attempt to refloat the ship in a controlled manner:

Baltimore Bridge's Weight is Pinning Container Ship Dali to the Bottom

In a reversal of the usual order for a major marine salvage operation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and its contractors will make the firs...

www.maritime-executive.com

 

[Michael H. Standart]

And finally, some medical/legal eagle stuff. (OpEd)

Opinion | The Baltimore Bridge Collapse Aftermath: Determining Causes of Death

The answers have legal and international repercussions

www.medpagetoday.com

 

[Michael H. Standart]

No real progress reported up to now although I didn't really expect it. Even at what might be called breakneck speed, this mess is going to take a long time to clean up.

This is how the Port of Baltimore will bounce back after bridge collapse

Click on:​

MSN

 

[Bob Read]

Why would the FBI be involved in the Baltimore bridge collapse investigation if the President said it was a “terrible accident”? I always thought the FBI investigated crimes?

 

[Samuel Halpern]

Why would the FBI be involved in the Baltimore bridge collapse investigation if the President said it was a “terrible accident”? I always thought the FBI investigated crimes?

Because it is their responsibility to rule out some devious cause even if it looks like that is a remote possibility.

 

[Bob Read]

Because it is their responsibility to rule out some devious cause even if it looks like that is a remote possibility.

Yes, but President Biden already ruled that out the morning of the incident.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Just to show that incidents like this are not as rare and as sailors like me wish they were.

"Container ship loses propulsion and comes to halt close to New York bridge – two weeks after Baltimore tragedy"

MSN

 

[Dave Gittins]

No panic! The chart shows me that the ship would run aground before she could hit the bridge. The bridge in Baltimore should be rebuilt in the same manner.

 

[Mike Spooner]

Was the bridge covered by insurance policy for such advent? If so will new safety barriers be install to protect the bridge structure?

 

[Samuel Halpern]

Just to show that incidents like this are not as rare and as sailors like me wish they were.

"Container ship loses propulsion and comes to halt close to New York bridge – two weeks after Baltimore tragedy"

MSN

Adding coal to the fire that the Baltimore incident was no accident by those that like to believe that.