Two people died and over 20 were injured as a Mexican Navy ship crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday, May 17. The Cuauhtémoc had 277 people on board when it crashed into the bridge, snapping its masts. Masts are the tall poles that hold up the sails. Some sailors were on the masts, and they were injured from the collision.
The ship was believed to lose power for some time before it ran into the bridge. The Brooklyn Bridge is still in use and not damaged, and everyone on the bridge was safe. If the bridge had collapsed, it could have resulted in many more casualties.
FVHS science teacher and boat owner, David Cramer, said, “The National Transportation Safety Board… is looking into [the crash] to try to figure out what happened. There are about 10 safety agencies that are looking into that. It’ll take months to figure out exactly what happened. They will look at the conditions of the river. How fast was the current moving? Was it windy that day? Were the water levels high or low? They’ll look at the operating conditions of the vessel like if it was going too fast or slow. Could they steer with the rudder of the boat working? They will look at who was in command of the vessel… I know the boat was supposed to be going forward. It went from three knots and sped up to seven knots… The crew has reported that the ship was not steerable, and they had lost control of the rudder.”
People who work on ships have to focus a lot on their surroundings as they navigate. They have to look out for logs and rocks hiding in the water along with the things above them.
Sophomore Levi Stanley, who owns a 20ft. Ranger bass boat, said, “It’s easy [to drive a boat] but you have to know the rules of the water which can make it harder.”
The Brooklyn Bridge incident reminded some people of the Baltimore Bridge crash, March 26, 2024, where a cargo ship ran into the bridge and the whole bridge collapsed. Six workers died in that collapse. That ship also lost power before it ran into the bridge’s support system.
“Most bridges are tall enough where you obey the rules of the road and you pass right underneath. Some bridges are low enough, you may have to get on the radio and call the bridge operator and ask the operator to open the bridge for you so you can pass under,” said Cramer
North Carolina receives cargo ships at ports in Wilmington and Morehead City. The average cargo ship is 160,000 tons according to Lotus Containers. Dynamic Port Agencies says they move 25 knots or 29 miles per hour. A cargo ship will cause at least a partial collapse if it hits a bridge.
Luckily, North Carolina has not had anything like these deadly collapses. In Dare County, NC, the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge collapsed while under construction on April 14, 2021. Workers were fixing the bridge to create the new Marc Basnight Bridge so the bridge could withstand the Outer Banks harsh weather conditions. A 200-foot section of the bridge collapsed in 1990 due to a dredge called the North Star which hit the bridge in strong winds, according to The Outer Banks Voice.
People have many safety concerns when they are operating a boat in the water. Small boats also come across bridges but they are not as much danger as cargo ships. When coming to a bridge, many lakes have idle zones telling people to slow down.
Stanley said, “You need to have boaters etiquette and be aware of your wake. Always have life jackets for every person on board. You need an air horn, whistle and a fire extinguisher.”
People do need to be careful about how much weight is on a bridge. During rush hour on Dec. 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge in Ohio collapsed. The entire suspended bridge and the 130 foot support columns fell. Forty-six people were killed and nine were injured according to PDHengineer. This is known as the deadliest bridge disaster and led to people studying how to make safer bridges.
“There are many rules of the road a boat operator needs to adhere to so you don’t endanger other boat traffic. There are speed limits, such as wake zones where you are not allowed to make any waves,” said Cramer.
Bridges are safe as long as they are being taken care of properly. Think of that the next time you drive over a bridge, big or small.
“I would advise everyone to take a Coast Guard training course. They will teach you the right ways. You can get a license to pilot a boat, and it keeps everyone safe. You’ll know what to do. More importantly, you will learn what not to do. Being out in the ocean, being in a lake, being in the river, people die every day because they don’t know what they’re doing,” said Cramer.
