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Leave it to a YouTuber to provide the most informed analysis of what happened with the container ship that hit the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZbUXewlQDk

Key points:

* ship was fully loaded headed from Baltimore through Panama canal to Singapore
* ship lost power approximately 1500 feet before the pylon
* some power / lights were restored on the ship about 1000 feet away
* after power was restored, ship IMMEDIATELY began belching black smoke
* daytime helicopter views indicate ship dropped its port side anchor trying to stop forward movement
* doing so likely altered the direction of movement, moving the ship out of the main channel towards the pylon
* within 5 seconds of hitting the outer concrete pier supporting the pylon, bridge spans began collapsing

In this harbor, tug boats are NOT normally used to guide ships out of harbor, only to move ships away from the dock and get them moving towards the designated channel.

Other reports indicate construction work WAS underway on this bridge and concrete trucks were traversing the bridge for that work. I don't know what the maintenance health of the bridge was to speculate if this is possibly a situation like the I-35W bridge in Minnesota that collapsed in part due to construction materials being staged ON the bridge while additional heavy trucks traversed the bridge. I tend to think NOT. There is NOTHING that's going to keep a bridge up when a fully loaded container ship hits a key support. The ship was 985 feet long by 157 feet wide and was carrying about 150,000 tons of cargo. The inertia of something that large will take out anything it contacts.

One wonders what types of preventative measures are even possible for these scenarios. A radio alert system so a crew declaring an emergency in harbor triggers warning lights at bridge entrances to stay off the bridge due to a potentially out of control vessel? This video feed was taken from the Baltimore Port Authority's web camera but it isn't clear if it was played slowed down, etc. to understand actual elapsed times. The ship seemed to be going pretty fast given it had just got underway and away from the dock. Was it incompetence or a massive equipment failure on the ship? What do the maintenance records look like on that equipment?


WTH

The same YouTuber posted an update with a map view of the entire route the ship took from its dock to the bridge synchronized to the port authority video. Best explanation of what likely happened available so far.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N39w6aQFKSQ

He also showed a map of all of the ships still docked north of the bridge that will be trapped until the wreckage of the bridge can be removed from the channel as well as dozens of other container ships docked at staging areas south of the bridge waiting to deliver goods.

Such a tragic event for those on the bridge.


WTH

WatchingTheHerd: Such a tragic event for those on the bridge.

But not for Fox "News" and republicans who have already tried to link the accident to "open borders" (Maria Bartiromo, this morning), "drug-addled" employees and Covid lockdowns (Matt Schlapp on "Wake Up America"), DEI and anti-White business practices, and the bipartisan Infrastructure bill (rep Nancy Mace on "Newsmax"). Others (including Dope1's favorite, @EndWokeness) have blamed Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg who was on the phone with Baltimore officials shortly after the accident and is on the ground in Baltimore now. I guess they think Buttigieg shouldn't have an opinion on racism in America and should be piloting every ship as it goes under every bridge in America.

I haven't seen it yet, but it's only a matter of time before someone blames the wreck on the ship's captain's mRNA Covid vaccination.

In short, republicans will never reach their bottomless pit of despicable behavior.

In the real world, President Biden said the search and rescue operation “is our top priority” and pledged “to ensure every federal resource is available” to the city. Biden also said: “I directed my team to move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible. It’s my intention that the Federal Government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge and I expect the Congress to support my effort."

Before you whine about the cost, here's a reminder: After the 35W bridge collapsed over the Mississippi River in Minnesota on Aug. 1, 2007, the House voted on Aug. 3 to spend $250 million to rebuild the bridge. The vote was 421-0. It passed the Senate by unanimous consent.

Here are some items I've seen from news coverage:

* there were construction crews on the bridge fixing potholes but nothing structural
* the bridge was fully certified and had no issues flagged as a threat to safety
* the crew sent a Mayday to the port authority notifying them of a loss of propulsion problem
* the port authority IMMEDIATELY closed entry to the bridge on both sides within SECONDS, limiting the number on the bridge as much as possible
* local emergency dispatchers immediately notified teams to not enter the bridge where they might not realize the bridge was lost in the dark

So far, from those elements, it looks like the bridge was adequately maintained and that officials have been very efficient and professional in their response.

It isn't clear yet when propulsion power was lost but the ship appeared to lose lights a minute or two before the strike. It regained its lights, then began belching thick black smoke. Sign of an engine failure after trying to switch to reverse or a sign of some other explosion in the power systems of the ship. Not known. The pylons for the bridge had relatively small concrete barriers around the base for protection but NOTHING is going to prevent the momentum of a 100,000 ton ship moving at 6 knots from taking out the pylon. The bridge design did not implement completely standalone spans that could remain in place if an an adjacent span collapse. Taking out one pylon support two spans allowed those spans to fall which pulled on their connected spans pulling more down beyond the initial point of impact. Construction of larger diameter "protection donuts" around each pylon apparently had been discussed years ago but skipped due to extremely high costs.

It is apparently normal for ships using this port to NOT use tugs to guide them through the channel past the bridge. This ship was docked facing northwest, had to sail a counter-clockwise loop to face southest, then head to the designated channel to pass under the bridge into the larger bay. It appeared to do that without incident until it lost power. The video link above theorizes that by attempting to drop anchor on the port (left) side to slow / stop the ship, doing so actually skewed the ship's path further to the right away from the center of the designated channel towards the pylon. Avoidable mistkae? I have no expertise with which to judge.

Replacing this bridge will cost many multiples of $250 million. The ship needs to be certified for seaworthiness then somehow moved back to a dock for unpacking then moved somewhere for repairs or gutting. The shipping channel needs to be cleared immediately of the fallen bridge spans to restore access to ports. Removal of the wreckage will take extra time due to the depth of water and the need to preserve key evidence. There will be hundreds of lawsuits for victims, for other shippers impaired by the blockage of the port, etc. Maersk was the entity chartering this shipment but they were not the owner of the ship. Will a record of maintenance problems regarding propulsion and/or steering show up in an investigation? That could drive billions in liability claims.


WTH

In short, republicans will never reach their bottomless pit of despicable behavior.

Never. We have learned that lesson.

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