People are saying the ship's lights blinked out a couple times just prior, but seems like things musta gone very wrong long before that. No major winds. Ship had prior operator error crash. Wouldn't a big slow moving ship seeing it was way off course shooting a bridge be able to drop anchor? Wouldn't a 100,000 ton ship have tugboats until past bridge and in open water? Also something about being unable to contact ship's bridge after. Maybe it was pirated and done intentionally? Isn't there a pretty steady stream of AirTrafficControl type banter when a ship that big is getting out of tight major harbor?
seems a little strange loss of power would cause it to turn so quickly. I'd have guessed it wouldn't be able to turn that sharp even it it wanted to.
According to various news reports, the operators claim an anchor was dropped prior to hitting the bridge.
Is the smoke from an attempted emergency reverse air start? Doesn't look like it had enough air to pull it off. If going 8 knots, that's too fast for many ships to reverse.
what is over/under on if this will take more/less time to clear than Suez? I wonder if root cause was they didn't switch from In Port clean fuel to High Seas dirty fuel. Or otherwise forgot to flip some switch so the engine auto-shut down once it was throttled past idle.
NTSB and the Coast Guard have been giving regular press updates. Today they released the info from the DVR (Data Voice Recorder) minute by minute (in some cases second by second). They did drop the port anchor, but by then it was too late. It takes about a mile to stop a ship (984 feet- 300 meters) of that size from 8 kts in full reverse. The anchor did slow it a bit but not enough. There has been speculation about dirty fuel by news media hired experts, but it's only speculation. The pilot had called for tug assistance but it was too late for that too. The black smoke would indicate they were trying to restart but, as I said, too late. Just watch the news or look it up on the internet. NTSB will be giving daily pressers for a long while. It will be a while before they can even remove the section of the bridge resting on the ship. Then they have to check for damage to the ship (as of today no oil or chemical leaks) before they can refloat it and tow it away.
Insurers brace for record payouts from Baltimore bridge disaster - Splash247 https://splash247.com/insurers-brace-for-record-payouts-from-baltimore-bridge-disaster/
Black smoke indicates unborned fuel due overloading or some cylinders aren't igniting properly. Nothing to do with fuel quality..
Biden says Baltimore bridge rebuild should be paid for by the federal government after collapse https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-says-wants-federal-government-pay-rebuilding-baltimore-bridge-ca-rcna145138 President Biden wants the american tax payer to pay for the rebuild. Hopefully insurance companies eventually pay up and he is just taking the opportunity to grand stand.
Maybe you would have preferred the alternative speech: "Dear citizens, I'm sorry this happened but we, the federal gubmint aren't gonna do much. The bridge belongs to the state, talk to them about rebuilding it. We gonna start cleaning up the waterway since that's federal, let's see how far we get we the money we have. We hope we can at least clear some of the navigation lane so the port opens again. Anyway when it runs out we gonna stop and wait for the insurance money. That's probably gonna take a few years, and even after the final lawsuit is settled the company is probably gonna pay in installments, so don't hold your breath. Now I have to be frank with you, the law says there is a possibility that the payout will be limited to the vessels value, there's nothing the gubmint can do about that, please talk to your congressman. Our toughts and prayers go to everyone who's life quality is gonna be impacted by this, thank you and good night."