re: Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore has collapsed - container ship wrecked into it

I’m currently in Savannah and have watched a few ships of that size come through up the river and at least half have escorts of some kind.

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The stacks are behind the bridge.

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So engine room then I suppose. Stacks don’t smoke like that either.

How does a ship like that have total power loss twice? Do they not have multiple as in at least 2 diesel motors if it’s diesel? I understand having engine problems, but it goes dark like total loss? I would have assumed it has 2 motors if not 4 plus a generator?

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By The Dawns Early Light

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1:30 am is still deep into night and dark as pitch

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You gotta hope this guy is drunk, someone stole the ship



Sometimes ships lose power. This happens on the Mississippi River. Remember the cargo ship that hit the Riverwalk?

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O know a few river pilots and that happens more often that folks would be comfortable knowing.

Foreign flag.

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quote:Doesn't seam like that ship would have been able to fit under it. I thought the same thing..ship looks massive in comparison to bridge.

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185 feet of clearance.

The gantry cranes that load/offload the containers have a 110 foot operating height. Plenty of clearance leftover.

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Foreign flag.

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They almost always are foreign flagged. Easy way to avoid taxes, liability, or paying your crew competitive wages

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Are there any “American flagged” big container ships AT ALL?

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There aren’t. American shipping companies flag their boats with tax-haven countries.

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I’m not even gonna pretend to know what the redundancy plan is for that situation.

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Doesn't seem to be one, unfortunately.

Perhaps, this is an opportunity to put one in place for any cargo vessel in US waters.