Yahoo Autos Cargo Ship Used Anchor In Desperate Attempt To Avoid Baltimore Bridge Collision
While the investigations into the Francis Scott Key bridge collapse are just getting started, it seems the captain of the Dali cargo ship did everything he could to try and prevent a catastrophe, including dropping the port anchor to drag along the bottom of the bay in order to slow the ship’s momentum.
The captain also turned the ship rudder hard to the left as the Dali, which was traveling at eight knots (common for the bay) when it lost power, drifted hard to the right towards the bridge pylons. Clay Diamond, the executive director of the American Pilots’ Association, told the Washington Post it is not unusual for a ship of this size to lose engine power (which...yikes) but a total blackout is less common.
“It’s not unheard of for a pilot to experience an engine casualty, it’s not that common to have a full blackout like this,” he said. “This is a complicated piece of equipment so it could be any number of causes.”
Foreign-flagged ships are required to have pilots aboard to guide them in and out of U.S. ports. Pilots have detailed knowledge of local shipping channels and complete an apprenticeship before becoming fully qualified. Diamond said they don’t take direct command of the vessel, but work with its crew to get it safely out to sea.
However, given the ship’s size, speed and proximity to the bridge when it lost power, these actions did little to slow the ship, experts told NBC:
“An engine conking out 3 miles out in the ocean is an aggravation and an economic problem, because you lose time,” said Henry Lipian, a retired Coast Guard lieutenant and founder of the Introtech accident reconstruction firm. “In a narrow channel at night, with a bridge in front of you, I couldn’t think of a worse situation to deal with.”
A ship can drop anchor in an attempt to avert a collision, but given the Dali’s size, speed and distance from the bridge, such a move most likely wouldn’t have helped, said Morgan McManus, an instructor at SUNY Maritime College in New York who has worked on cargo ships and tankers.
“At 8 knots you need a couple thousand yards to do it,” McManus said.
Meanwhile, search and rescue efforts at the site of the collapsed Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore transitioned to recovery efforts Tuesday night as rescue workers lost hope in finding the six road workers still missing.
