Bridge Collapse

[HeavyAssault]

Can't say these reflect pre- or post-impact of the anchor being let out : It's out in these pics.

 

[JTredway]

As is customary for our ports, professional pilots are on the ship's bridge in congested waterways. Once safely in open water, the pilot departs the ship and the captain takes over.

The ship reportedly lost propulsion, so that would also affect their steerage. Looking at the tide charts, it was almost low tide and there wasn't much current at the time of the crash.

Armchair QB'ing this, they may have been able to drop anchor to avoid hitting the bridge, but it probably happened pretty quickly.

Absolutely awful tragedy. My wife is from Baltimore, she was just back there last weekend and drove over this bridge.

I wonder if there was enough time to even do that (especially with the on/off nature of the power failure, the mass of the ship combined with anchor chain length is usually has some scope ratio (just learned about this the other day ironically, basically something to do with the amount of chain in the water vs drag length vs boat length) that it may not even had enough chain in the water to anchor and stop the ship, let alone not all anchors are created equal.

 

[HeavyAssault]

Technically it's the anchor chain (rode??) that is what "holds" a ship at anchor, not the actual anchor. As @JTredway is speaking to they pay out the chain in a manner that the ship cannot drift off the "anchor point", but the ship will "swing" in a circle around that anchor point. That requires LOTS of space. Not to mention the ship is required to have an anchor watch that monitors the ship's position inside the anchor point circle.

So the anchor/anchor chain going out isn't going to stop that ship within the amount of time they had before impact.

 

[Modman]

within the amount of time

...and momentum

 

[MrFancypants]

So tragic especially for the poor souls that were just doing their job fixing potholes that night. Glass half full: thank goodness this didn't happen during rush hour.

 

[ShiverMeTimbers]

Technically it's the anchor chain (rode??) that is what "holds" a ship at anchor, not the actual anchor. As @JTredway is speaking to they pay out the chain in a manner that the ship cannot drift off the "anchor point", but the ship will "swing" in a circle around that anchor point. That requires LOTS of space. Not to mention the ship is required to have an anchor watch that monitors the ship's position inside the anchor point circle.

So the anchor/anchor chain going out isn't going to stop that ship within the amount of time they had before impact.

It may not stop it, but it will slow it down. The anchor chain/rode is helpful for holding the anchor on bottom, but the initial hook would still have an effect.

 

[JTredway]

So tragic especially for the poor souls that were just doing their job fixing potholes that night. Glass half full: thank goodness this didn't happen during rush hour.

I read somewhere it services like 34k people/day

 

[DwnSth]

it’s just a distraction for the real drama going on!! See ya P pu$$y Combs, hope there are many more to follow! Nice start with Prince Harry

 

[Optimus]

it’s just a distraction for the real drama going on!! See ya P pu$$y Combs, hope there are many more to follow! Nice start with Prince Harry

Is that his new name!? I could've sworn he's changed it several times already

 

[Sccritterkiller]

Is that his new name!? I could've sworn he's changed it several times already

It's officially the dirty diddy now...weather charges come or not...

 

[Pompey]

That's crazy!

Here’s a news story on the accident. It’s hard to imagine the terror they must have gone through. But, typical of that generation, they remain very stoic.

 

[TRAMPER]

it’s just a distraction for the real drama going on!! See ya P pu$$y Combs, hope there are many more to follow! Nice start with Prince Harry

Is that his new name!? I could've sworn he's changed it several times already

It's officially the dirty diddy now...weather charges come or not...

Diddy Did it, though I’ll say that is also a distraction from what’s really going on.

 

[Briski]

I saw the incident commander change her words from incident to accident before the investigation is just started. Not typical to jump to conclusions. The ship took a hard right turn to hit the most vulnerable part of the structure. What caused the right turn? Just saying the government is not disclosing the truth…sorry for those lost!

 

[BroncoHooves]

1K and 400 ton cranes being moved in to clear the wreckage. What a mess.

 

[Canyon Trekker]

I saw the incident commander change her words from incident to accident before the investigation is just started. Not typical to jump to conclusions. The ship took a hard right turn to hit the most vulnerable part of the structure. What caused the right turn? Just saying the government is not disclosing the truth…sorry for those lost!

This may answer some of the questions:

 

[Briski]

It didn’t help my theory at all. They are trying to justify it was an accident without data.

 

[Canyon Trekker]

It didn’t help my theory at all. They are trying to justify it was an accident without data.

It's all speculation. Noone knows what happened until a thorough investigation is performed. Even the watch commander is speculating. That's news coverage at work right there. People want immediate answers and there aren't any. So, people make shit up. Gotta sell that news and be first to report. Damn the Freudian slip.

Another thing I learned is that ship has a history of issues and is basically like a rental ship for Maersk. Maersk is desperate to move freight. All of the hush is likely to find fault before anyone like Maersk is placed as liable. The lawyers are going to have a heyday with this one.

 

[Optimus]

The moderators might not like this post and I know I'll get in trouble but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. We'll see if @modified and @Modman do their job.

 

[Pompey]

History has shown its best to ignore early reports and theories. It will take months I suspect to know. Is it even known how many died?

Look at MH370. Ten years on and they are still arguing about it.