WTOP Part of Key Bridge in Baltimore collapses after large boat collision, sending vehicles into water

[Dan T.]

 

BTW, **** Fox News.

 

 

Edited March 26 by Dan T.

[skinsmarydu]

Yeah, I was in the deck division that moved a submarine tender around a couple hurricanes and changed home port.  Tugs help, but that big ass ship is gonna keep moving.  

[tshile]

30 minutes ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

the reported speed seems to be about 8 knots which is very fast for an area like that. Maybe the wind and tide also played a role? Also, I'm hearing the ship dropped anchor right before collision.

Just adding: where we are with the moon cycle means stronger tides than normal 😕

 

(according to one person on the news)

[TheGreatBuzz]

29 minutes ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

 

Some additional credentials of mine, I was working on the flight deck when this happened. I've seen first hand what tugs can and can't do.

 

 

Unrelated but I got an award from the Chief of Naval Operations for my actions here. This was after we back to Mayport, got repaired, and redeployed. 

 

 

https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/samuel-b--roberts--ffg-58--iii.html

 

 

Side note to my side note, as a witness to the event, what's written there is NOT what happened. We ran aground before the engines spun up. I know because I was replacing an aircraft tire at the time. The aircraft was on jacks so it staying level is a huge concern. That's why I was doing it while pulling into port. I set a socket down on its side and it rolled away. That was very concerning at the moment because I knew we weren't level. I got up and away from the aircraft because I didn't know what was happening. That's when the engines spun up but we just dug deeper into the mud. 

[Corcaigh]

35 minutes ago, Dan T. said:

 

BTW, **** Fox News.

 

 

I’m hearing that the ship’s preferred pronouns were gender neutral, it and its.

[skinsmarydu]

8 minutes ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

 

Side note to my side note, as a witness to the event, what's written there is NOT what happened. We ran aground before the engines spun up. I know because I was replacing an aircraft tire at the time. The aircraft was on jacks so it staying level is a huge concern. That's why I was doing it while pulling into port. I set a socket down on its side and it rolled away. That was very concerning at the moment because I knew we weren't level. I got up and away from the aircraft because I didn't know what was happening. That's when the engines spun up but we just dug deeper into the mud. 

Damn, dude...even that little channel we had at Kings Bay wouldn't have run us aground.  Sorry about that. 

[TheGreatBuzz]

 

 

 

[Corcaigh]

4 minutes ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

 

 

 

Very quick action by the police but the workers in the middle were probably doomed.

 

You can imagine some drivers who were stopped and told that they couldn’t cross were probably pissed about the delay for a few moments until they realized that they were seconds from death.

[tshile]

The idea of surviving the fall into that water alone is nuts. The frigid temps at 1:30 am in the darkness - even more so. 
 

All of that while a bridge is falling into the water with you? Good lord. 

[Corcaigh]

1 minute ago, tshile said:

The idea of surviving the fall into that water alone is nuts. The frigid temps at 1:30 am in the darkness - even more so. 
 

All of that while a bridge is falling into the water with you? Good lord. 

Amazing that one of the two people rescued is not even in hospital. Wondering where they were during the collapse.

Impressed also with how calm the police are when relating that the entire middle span of the bridge has just collapsed knowing that there were workers on it. I don’t think I could talk

[tshile]

19 minutes ago, Corcaigh said:

Impressed also with how calm the police are when relating that the entire middle span of the bridge has just collapsed knowing that there were workers on it. I don’t think I could talk

Yeah think that comes with the job. 
 

the initial call…

”the whole bridge just fell down. Start… whoever… everyone, everybody. The whole bridge just collapsed”

 

Another thought. I’m sure the people on the ship had 20-30 seconds of realization what was about to happen. As others have outlined - you’re not stopping or controlling a ship like that very well, if at all. And they knew that. There was some significant moment of time where they realized they were going to collide with the bridge. 
 

I imagine they had an idea the bridge wouldn’t be able to withstand it, even if they were hoping it would. 

Edited March 26 by tshile

[ixcuincle]

 

[tshile]

Re:  Biden saying fed govt will pay to rebuild bridge

 

I would think some, if not all, of that cost could be recovered from insurance. There is insurance for this. But you can’t wait for all the litigation to go through to start rebuilding it. 
 

 

[Corcaigh]

Yeah … probably years before the insurance companies pay up after all the investigations, but someone will be on the hook.

 

A relative worked in the reinsurance business where huge risks are spread out across multiple companies. It was surprisingly interesting. 🤣

[CousinsCowgirl84]

There are some limits to how much an insurer will pay. I imagine the cost of replacing the bridge will exceed the insurance limits.

[TheGreatBuzz]

Glad to see we have some experts on International Maritime Insurance Compensation policies in here. I was scared I might have to seek someone out.

[tshile]

21 minutes ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

Glad to see we have some experts on International Maritime Insurance Compensation policies in here. I was scared I might have to seek someone out.

I work for a place that litigates large scale international reinsurance cases with ships. It’s entirely possible that we work this one - though I have no reason to believe it’s likely. Certainly no one mentioned that we may be involved yet, but they don’t exactly tell me that sort of stuff.  I have no idea if we have ties to the ship owner or insurance company.  And at my old job one of our clients was one of the bigger reinsurers.  Talked to him a lot about his business. He convinced my wife and I to bail on our plans to buy a beach house in Puerto Rico. 
 

Far from an expert but I think I know a little more about it than most average people 🤷‍♂️ 

Edited March 26 by tshile

[LadySkinsFan]

I'm thinking about the poor people unable to escape certain death. It's very humbling.

[China]

43 minutes ago, Corcaigh said:

Yeah … probably years before the insurance companies pay up after all the investigations, but someone will be on the hook.

 

A relative worked in the reinsurance business where huge risks are spread out across multiple companies. It was surprisingly interesting. 🤣

 

Yes, do tell.

 

[tshile]

36 minutes ago, CousinsCowgirl84 said:

There are some limits to how much an insurer will pay. I imagine the cost of replacing the bridge will exceed the insurance limits.

I can tell you from real case examples that it theoretically works that way. 
 

but that’s why you can have years long, expensive litigation when it happens. Then every word in the contract is analyzed. 
 

and believe it or not - sometimes people make mistakes. Like leave the cap space on the policy blank 😂 

 

when **** like this happens it’s case by case because everything is up for grabs to be scrutinize. Someone messing up on routine paperwork can take what appears like an obvious situation (like you saying they have a cap) and create some wild results. 

[Skinsfan1311]

4 hours ago, The Evil Genius said:

 

 

Without knowing the history of the bridge, the old planner in me thinks it probably had some structural issues to begin with if it collapsed the way it did. Probably means that the entire bridge will need a thorough safety review and EIRs will need to be done to mitigate what building a new bridge will do to the waters.

 

Edit..just looked. That bridge was approaching 50 years old. So I suspect repairs were already needed. Although they did do major projects on it as late as 1999. 

 

It also took 5 years to build back in 1972. I'd doubt it will take half of that now. But that's just an uniformed guess.

.....and one of the alternate routes is the Harbor tunnel that was completed in '57

[TheGreatBuzz]

23 minutes ago, tshile said:

I work for a place that litigates large scale international reinsurance cases with ships. It’s entirely possible that we work this one - though I have no reason to believe it’s likely. Certainly no one mentioned that we may be involved yet, but they don’t exactly tell me that sort of stuff.  I have no idea if we have ties to the ship owner or insurance company.  And at my old job one of our clients was one of the bigger reinsurers.  Talked to him a lot about his business. He convinced my wife and I to bail on our plans to buy a beach house in Puerto Rico. 
 

Far from an expert but I think I know a little more about it than most average people 🤷‍♂️ 

 

It was subtle but I was actually being sarcastic about having an expert here. Apparently, we have at least someone close. 

 

I love ES.

[Destino]

2 hours ago, Dan T. said:

 

BTW, **** Fox News.

 

 

I heard the bridge was vaxxed, weakening the steel with estrogen DNA. 

 

[tshile]

4 minutes ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

 

It was subtle but I was actually being sarcastic about having an expert here. Apparently, we have at least someone close. 

 

I love ES.

Someone close to the experts. I only know what they share and what makes the public news. 
 

they successfully got a reinsurer to pay out enormous money because they left an incredibly important fill-in-the-blank on the policy empty 😂 

 

you know what you don’t want happening?

 

you don’t want a judge or jury deciding what it means when you forget to fill in a blank. 

[Corcaigh]

51 minutes ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

Glad to see we have some experts on International Maritime Insurance Compensation policies in here. I was scared I might have to seek someone out.

I consider myself quite the maritime authority as I can lead the singing of several sea shanties in the local tavern.