I agree. Two months after they get started to clear the lane. It will go quick.
Before cutting away tons of debris from the vessel an inspection of the hullâs integrity would have to take place. In a bad set of circumstances the hull could crack maybe midship and this salvage operation just took on a whole new dynamic.
I sure hope the goobermint agencies that get involved have the right personnel who know what the fâ#k theyâre doing and/ or get the best maritime salvage people involved.
This operation could go typical gubmint FUBAR quick.
Thatâs the first thing I thought of, and Iâm probably not alone. Especially in this case where the ship side swiped the bridge support.
Iâm curious as to how and why this vessel lost power to the point it became incapable of navigating. These behemoths are constantly being maintained with documentation.
And why no tugboat support? That channel is critical. Wouldnât it be beneficial to have a safety plan to keep the equivalent of an aircraft carrier on course to avoid such a disaster?
The bigger question I have is why there are no protective concrete barriers surrounding the piers of the bridge.
Last night on our local Philly news, they pointed out the Betsy Ross Bridge, which was built around the same time as the Key Bridge.
It, and every other Delaware crossing bridge in the Philly areaâŚhas concrete bollards in front of the piers in each direction.
Any ship running in the direction of the piers would be stopped by those bollards before they ever got to the piers.
An important bridge such as the Key Bridge, leading to such an important port, should have had these protective measures in place already.
Absolutely, but that requires money. Iâll bet you it is really that simple.
Biden was at the helm. Itâs all Bidenâs fault. Thatâs why heâs having the government pay for repairs. He wants to deflect attention from his ineptitude as a sea captain.
Seriously, though, I heard that they have specialized crews that take over these large ships while entering and leaving the harbor. Itâs what they do. The crew know the channel, the specifics of getting in and out. Crew swaps back to the regular crew once the ship exits the channel.
Probably will moving forward.
Harbor pilots were aboard and tugboats were present. A tiny tugboat trying to stop a 100,000+ deadweight ton vessel would be like a human standing on ice trying to stop a sliding pickup truck.
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One would think that compared to the cost of the bridge, the additional costs would be minimal.
Guarantee when this bridge gets repaired, pier protections will be put in place.
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My Grandpap would have responded to your comment with:
âThatâs a great idea. Now that the horses have run away time to shut the barn doorâ.
Paraphrasing of course 
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Oh I am sure they will come away with a long list of to do items (which should have been done sooner).
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It was built almost 50 years ago. Priorities and concerns were different then.
They wonât be overlooked this time.
Of course, 50 years from now, people will be surprised when some unexpected event uncovers things being overlooked in stuff being built today.
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Apparently they dropped the port anchorâŚdidnât work in time.
That could be said about every sector of our public Infrastructure. Infrastructure Week was a running joke during the Trump administration but I do wish he would have got some more of it done
I guarantee theyâre looking at every single bridge right now without one.
Plenty of time for it to have been thought of already and added inâŚlike I said, Philadelphia thought of itâŚall our bridges are protected (at least against this type of occurrence).
As a matter of fact, they had announced an upgrade plan a day or so before the Key Bridge incident.
Most lower Mississippi River bridges outside of New Orleans donât have them. Then again the biggest ships that hit bridges are tug barges. Many of the bridges in this part of the world get smacked all the time without any further incident. Mainly because tug barges are fairly small. Usually the boat gets the brunt of the damage.
I would assume the ones near New Orleans have protection though since some Panamax size ships do frequent that area. They dredge the river deep enough for them.
A basic problem is that todayâs cargo ships are massively bigger than the ones that existed in the in early1970s when the bridge was designed. The container ship that hit the bridge was just under 10,000 TEU. The largest container ships in the 1970s were about 3000 TEU.
The Largest Available Containership, 1970-2023 (in TEUs) | Port Economics, Management and Policy
The structural supports and protecting piers were not designed to protect against a collision from a modern ship.
A real question is what caused the power failures on the ship right before the accident?
https://twitter.com/YWNReporter/status/1772546230310056446
Dirty fuel is a possible explanation for the loss of power. Federal authorities were able to rule out sabotage within an incredibly short time. If dirty fuel was a factor, it must have been the result of accidental contamination:
Hours after the incident, the White House and federal government agencies quickly ruled out a cyber attack or industrial sabotage as the source of the shipâs power loss. With an investigation barely underway, it would seem too preliminary to rule out those things. Itâs not yet illegal to have an open mind.
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The investigators have the âblack boxâ from the ship.
Tugs are primarily used in mooring of ships because steerage of the ship is limited at very low speeds. On departure, once they have cleared the pier and are underway in the outbound channel, tugs are not used.
Edited to add video regarding use of tugs while leaving port.
