Mexican navy tall ship smashes into Brooklyn Bridge, shears off masts after

They needed a back up camera?

Definitely, not the expected headlines for today.

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Ya, there are a lot of videos from different angles of the crash on tiktok.

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Well, that is one way to shorten the masts 

How and why the f–k did this happen?

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I bet that bridge appeared out of nowhere and cut them off in traffic..


or they were all watching TikTok videos instead where they were going.

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It could have been a mechanical issue. Reversed power for a small maneuver and then couldn’t un-reverse.
Has happened to other ships. I would not have attempted this without tugboat assistance.
Pride is one thing but this looks stupid.
The New York Post mentions ‘lost power’ but a ship drifiting with the current does not make waves going backward. If there was a strong headwind it is even more reckless to go out so close to obstacles without tugboat assistance.
Captain needs to find a new career with a broom, a mop and a bucket.

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Now I understand why we don’t hear much about the Mexican Navy’s exploits.

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Sal breaks it all down. :cry:

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How did people die from the mast hitting a bridge?

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Because there were sailors manning the masts
The Mexican ship arrives somewhere in France two years ago

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I see now. Poor guys.

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Sad - another tragedy as a result of more than one contributing factor. Seemingly poor decision making regarding the time of tide and then propulsion continuing astern rather than going ahead .
Been through that area many times delivering boats with my father . By the time I was out of my teens I had been under the Verrazano Bridge more times than across it . The currents in NY harbor are serious and while this happened down river of the king of them all it is no easy passage - Hell’s Gate is named so for a
reason .

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Height clearance was not painted on the bridge. :slightly_frowning_face:
:smiley: :canada:

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Seeing the picture of the sailors on the mast puts it in prespective. It’s tragic anyone lost their life.

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Did look like were not under power and without sails so it appeared to be adrift.

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Before judging the actions of the Captain and crew or depreciating the competence of the entire Mexican Navy, it might be a good idea to let the investigation as to what happened run it’s course.

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One of the articles about the collision states that there was a claim that the ship had lost power, so it’s possible that it was backing down, intending to shift to power ahead, when it lost power, and continued its backing with no way to arrest its momentum. The article did state that the claim of loss of power had yet to be verified, so this is pure supposition on my part, although it does explain why the ship would be making way astern with no visible attempt to halt its motion – if the ship had power to its screw, and the helmsman was awake to be aware of the impending collision, surely he’d have had the engines at full ahead trying to stop the ship, which would have been visible by churning water at the stern, which wasn’t there in the videos.

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Check the video posted above.
They backed out from the quay they were moored at and then for some reason they could not start going forward.

If I was aware of any current going up river I would have had a tug connected in case the improbable happened that my ship became impossible to control.
Moving water in closed areas (rivers) can get ugly real quick ..

At this time they should be making way forward, down river, but the churned up water indicates
that their propeller is still going astern (watch video to see sequences):

A little bit later, having a fair bit of speed going astern:

A decent “bow wave” at the rudder going astern.

I would guess at a technical failure
BUT
if the current and the wind was going up river I would have had a tug connected at the bow as a safety precaution. Pride or no pride, safety first.

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In many of the videos it can clearly be seen that the vessel was underway astern leaving a visible wake . If the vessel’s way was solely from wind/current then there would be no or very little wake . It was clearly underway but it may be that they lost power and the vessel carried her way (momentum ) thus showing wake . I find that hard to believe - a displacement hull carrying way and exceeding the several knot current but I suppose it’s possible.
Some early reports say the captain claimed loosing control of the rudder - in mariner’s terms the ship was not answering her helm . If the vessel is a single screw with the rudder centered behind the propeller the rudder is much less effective going astern .
I certainly don’t know what , if any , pressure the master was under from his superiors to put on a show . Given the location of her berth with the bridge immediately down current prudence would dictate departing at slack tide which I believe was a few hours earlier. I am guilty of much speculation here I know and best for all that we wait for the results of considerable research.
My heart goes out to the families of the sailors that lost their lives by following orders.

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Pretty much nearly useless actually. The rotation direction of the propeller will drag the stern starboard or port and the rudder has no influence.

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And more importantly the flow of water over the rudder is very much reduced - vectored thrust nil .

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