Baltimore Bridge Collapse: Analysis of MV Dali's Collision Course

[@OceanlinerDesigns]

Footage of the bridge collapse is here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4avq6amf7-onJo The owner of this footage has restricted it from circulation without permission which is why I have not used it in this video! If anybody is more familiar with the Chesapeake Bay area and shipping involved there you might be able to comment a bit more on protocols surrounding tug use. My understanding is Dali had tugs leaving her berth and executing the turn into the channel but it seems they left her once they finished the turn. Thanks to other commenters for pointing out the similarities with other bridge-ship 'allisions'; 1975 Tasman Bridge: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasman_Bridge_disaster 1980 Skyway Bridge: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_Skyway_Bridge#1980_collapse

[@IntrepidMilo]

If you want to know more about the Baltimore harbour you can look up the sailing directions for that port. It will give you information on the speed and if tugs are needed.

[@RailPreserver2K]

I thought about this incident when i first heard about the collapse. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZjJmH2djsaAr6Msi=h3JIrAs1xxt-zKD0

[@OriginalMrBandicoot]

I was waiting for this video!! Wanted a full breakdown from the top guy on ship history

[@brentOhlookAsnake]

Tugs are used more towards the port and docks. At this point the ship was on her own power and was set to clear the bay. They did still have a Maryland licensed harbor pilot on board assisting the captain with the final parts of the harbor navigation. Harbor pilots board all large ships going in and out of the harbor. Once they were cleared the harbor pilot would depart the ship. They lost power and propulsion. They did drop anchor on starboard side I believe as well. Police were able to shut down traffic at both ends of the bridge about a minute before impact.

[@crazyguy32100]

AFAIK the tugs aren't required to run with the ship under the bridge. Many ships do have them but whether or not they need them is the pilots decision, with the ships captain able to request tugs for a longer period than the pilot suggests. The shipping channel is more than wide enough for 2 ships to pass each other with room to spare. The pilot likely thought that a ship with a 160' beam was more than capable of following a fairly straight 700' wide channel without any opposing traffic, and having the tugs stand down earlier saves the ship operators money.

[@TheChiefEng]

The problem with this incident is that it happened at the worst possible time. When a ship like this is leaving a port like this, in quite confined conditions, the ship will carry one or several local harbor pilots. In this case, the ship had two local harbor pilots on board. When a ship navigates through a pretty confined area like this, there will usually be more generation power online (Diesel generators) than normally needed and the control room will be manned. What people need to understand is that if a ship suffers a blackout, all power to the main switchboard is lost which means that all the equipment needed to operate the main propulsion engine is lost which trips out the engine. At the time the ship suffers the blackout, the steering gear (rudder) will be left in the position it was in when the blackout happened. This means that the ship will continue in the direction of the rudder position bleeding off the speed it had at the time of the blackout. The next thing that will happen fairly quickly (within a minute or less) is that the emergency Diesel generator will start automatically and power up the emergency switchboard. From the emergency switchboard, the ship will now have power for essential system such as navigation systems, lighting (not full lighting), steering gear power and a few auxiliaries to enable startup of the main Diesel generator engines again. In order to restart the main engine, compressed start air, fuel systems, lubrication systems and cooling water systems are needed. In an extreme emergency, it is possible to start the main engine shortly with reduced systems online but this may subject the main propulsion engine to severe damage. In any case, to get the main Diesel generators and the main propulsion engine started up again after a blackout will take some time. Even if everything goes well and all the crew know exactly what to do, this process can easily take 5-10 minutes in the very best circumstance and usually longer. The problem is that whatever caused the blackout in the first place may still be a fault that prevent the startup process to take place. Suffering a blackout on board any large ship in any kind of confined spaces is the worst nightmare for any professional seaman. However, it is important to always understand that when suffering a blackout, the main switchboard that powers main essential services will be gone and you are left with the required minimum services the emergency switchboard can provide and that will usually not include the service of the main seawater cooling pumps which will be needed if you want to be able to operate the main propulsion engine more than a few minutes. All the Diesel engines on board are cooled by closed fresh water systems and the fresh water is cooled in heat exchangers by seawater so if any of the Diesel engines (except the emergency Diesel engine) are to be operated for a longer time (more than a few minutes), the main seawater cooling pumps are needed and they are too big to be operated by the emergency Diesel generator. It's way too early to know what initiated the blackout. There are literally hundreds of reasons this can happen, but since all power was lost, it could be a short circuit in the main switchboard bus or a major malfunction of one or two of the main Diesel generators which would have left the ship with too little generation power on the remaining Diesel generator which could then cause the blackout. However, an investigation must find out what happened because it is extremely rare to see this kind of total blackout. Usually, a ship will have a power management system that may automatically disconnect faulty parts of the switchboards and/or generators thus enabling the ship to at least operate on reduced power. Regarding a crash stop and reversing the main propulsion engine, there are a few limitation there. If the ship is moving forward in the water with sufficient speed when the blackout happens, the propeller and thus main engine will continue to rotate in the direction of moving forward. Even when you have the power back, it may not be a simple thing to carry out a reverse operation of the main engine since this can first really be successful after it has been possible to stop the forward rotation movement of the propeller shaft and engine crankshaft. This type of ship has a propeller shaft that is directly connected to the main propulsion engine. There is no gear in between so in order to start the main engine in a reverse direction, the crankshaft and thus the propeller shaft shall basically be stopped first. The first light coming on seems to be the emergency generator having started up. The next flickering of light may either be an attempt to power up the main switchboard again with one of the main Diesel generators and the black smoke coming out of the funnel is either because the main Diesel generators are loaded up very suddenly or because the main engine is attempted started up. These are Diesel generators so when you start a Diesel engine of these sizes and load them up too quickly, there will be plenty of black smoke coming out of the funnel simply because the engines will not get enough combustion air because the turbochargers have not had time to spin up sufficiently yet. A long comment, which could be much longer if being more detailed and technical so I hope people will excuse the long comment.

[@drummingmuppet]

I agree, It looks like the main gensets have shat the bed and dropped the bus tie and while they had power when the auxiliary fired up and gave them lights, I doubt very much they had steering power for the hydraulics. Rudder angle locked way before the auxiliary kicked in and harbour pilots or not, they were just passengers even before they got the main in full reverse…

[@ghost307]

One comment om your excellent comment if I may. This happened at 1:30 in the morning. The "worst possible time" would have arguably been during the daily rush hour traffic.

[@votersvanguard4898]

Thank you for explaining that in such detail!

[@TheChiefEng]

@@ghost307 The worst possible time for the ship that is. Any blackout on a ship under way in confined condition may be considered the worst possible time. Regarding taking down the bridge, the time was definitely much better than if it had happened around 5pm.

[@TheChiefEng]

@@drummingmuppet They should get power to the steering gear from the emergency generator, but even if they were able to use the rudder at that time, if was too late. The vessel was losing speed through the water and the rudder does not work awfully well without the forces of the water passing it when the main engine is operating and they would have not been able to deploy bow thrusters to help either. They simply ran out of time and as you rightly point out, the people on board were merely helpless passengers at that point.

[@bejeweledwalrus]

Baltimore native here. My mom was set to drive over that bridge the morning after it fell, as a matter of fact. And I was going to drive over it to see family on Easter Sunday. Some additions to the info you gave: The ship is confirmed to have dropped anchor in an attempt to miss the pillar of the bridge. The ship sent out a mayday call shortly before collision, and the transportation authorities were able to stop incoming traffic onto the bridge. The confirmed number of people on the bridge was 8 (2 have been accounted for- the rest are considered dead) they were all road workers filling potholes. I really can’t overstate how important this bridge was. It shortened commutes significantly, but it was a large part of Baltimore’s identity too. 35,000 people commuted over the bridge every day. Everyone I’ve talked to about it is in total shock that it’s gone- it’s like we’ve lost a family member. Thankfully, there is a tunnel under our port for commuters to use. But now it’s going to be overloaded, so there are concerns about that too. Just thought I’d add that in. I was surprised to see a channel I’ve followed for a while cover this disaster in my state!

[@saltwaterbohemian2538]

Fellow Marylander, it is completely shocking to think about the Key bridge not being there.

[@SynthiaVan]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who had a strong attachment to a bridge, of all things. It really was a symbol of Baltimore for me. My grandfather was a Beth Steel guy who worked on the original span of the Bay bridge, and that was always a point of pride, especially when we drove to Ocean City. But the Key Bridge was right by home, it was one I drove way more often, and it was such a graceful design. I'm fascinated by the water, so even as an adult it was a treat to drive over it and see the boats, the sights, the history, and the geography of the harbor and bay (way more fun than the tunnels). I lived by Ft. McHenry after college and could actually see the bridge from my house, and my friends and I used to sail out to it in the summers in a J/22 full of Natty Boh. Lots of fond memories. Hope they rebuild something as beautiful in its place. And name it after John Waters.

[@Rick_lightning]

To add to this. There is also a channel perpendicular to the on he was traveling that could have helped turn the ship since the tide was going out. Not to sure how that works I just know it’s a thing from watching this guys and another’s KZbin on shipping / large ships.

[@dragonbutt]

At least you still have Big Bill Hells Cars

[@jasminda2401]

I live in Baltimore County. Seeing all the conspiracy theories and claims that the bridge wasn't well maintained is very tiring. Thank you for covering this in a sane way (I expected nothing less, of course).

[@adde9506]

Of course, there's already conspiracy theories. People are exhausting. The crew did as much as they could as fast as they could, and no real source of news is trying to say different. It's a fantastic job by the crew and police that traffic to the bridge was stopped in the few minutes that passed between engine failure and impact.

[@carlhallowell3421]

Already heard a few trying to blame the British Royal family, Ukraine, and somehow the NFL because they took a knee during the anthem that was written by the guy the bridge was named after.

[@mickburns5546]

There is always going to be the clowns with the conspiracy theories.

[@skrounst]

Unfortunately they were LITERALLY maintaining the bridge when the accident happened. There's a dedicated, full time team of maintenance workers just for the Key bridge. (source: my friend is part of the team for the Bay bridge and told me the Key bridge has a team as well). Just ignore the conspiracy people though, they'll go away eventually. It's under-developed people trying to find reasons for bad things happening. Not accepting accidents as accidents.

[@hanashi5727]

It's not a matter of the bridge being well maintained, tbh, it's a matter of poor policy and procedure in infrastructure handling that shouldn't have been ignored. Isn't ignored in other places. Baltimore is a key port. It absolutely should have had more policy and procedure in place. It should have had a lot more protecting it. It is what he was absolutely inferring as well. The idiot mayor of Baltimore hasn't helped matters at all, either.

[@MarylandResident]

You've done the best job of pronouncing 'Maryland' out of all the foreigners I've seen pronounce it over the last few days.

[@MacAdvisor]

I am so, so grateful you prepared this video so quickly. I have sent it to a number of friends to explain what happened. If I may, the bridge was built in the 1970s and was a marvel for its age. It really consists of two parts. There are two causeways on each side of the truss bridge, held up by modest, but closely placed, piers. The causeway is self-supporting and does not have a superstructure much above the road surface. In the middle is the truss span. The truss starts at one of the causeway piers, connects to a large massive pier, connects to another duplicate large, massive pier, and connects to a causeway pier on the other side. The ship was trying to pass between the two large piers, where the truss bridge was significantly higher above the water and far more open than the causeway portion. Those two large truss piers were protected by what amounts to large bollards. However, they were designed for the ships with half or less the mass of the Dali. They failed to provide the necessary protection for today's much larger ships. That is the main point of failure (to make the analogy popular on your channel), if the bollards were of proper strength, height, and number, they would have stopped the Dali from hitting the pier with such destructive force, just as if the water tight compartments of the Titanic had gone all the way to the superstructure, they would have kept the water from spilling over the subsequent compartments, sinking the ship as quickly as occurred. I completely agree with you about the tugs. I am absolutely sure they will be required after the harbor reopens. Another example of the rules not being updated with the increasingly large ships, just as the Board of Trade regulations stopped at 10,000 registered tons for lifeboat requirements for the Titanic.

[@jrocco36]

I live in St. Petersburg, Florida. In 1980 this very thing happened to our Skyway Bridge when a freighter took down the southbound span killing 35 people mostly in the Greyhound bus that when into the bay. It's something that has been on our minds ever since, and we mark the day it happened every year. When they built the New Skyway they installed all these dolphins to protect the support columns and also for the main supports they made two islands. I noticed that the Key bridge only had two dolphins way back from the bridge, it left the support exposed to any wayward ship. I don't understand why, after it happened before with the Skyway bridge, they didn't install better protection around all the important bridges.

[@dafyddthomas7299]

Agree - especially for now history repeating itself; loss of life ( could have been more if accident was at peak time), huge interruption and loss of revenue to baltimore, impact to US Economy and cost ( probable $4bn+) - blocked shipping lanes, docks out of action to large ships, salvage and reconstruction of a new modern and hopefully safer bridge with adequate safety piers / dolphines, etc

[@nikoholopainen3222]

Glad I noticed your comment. I was going to write about the same tragic accident. NTSB released their report and recommendations the following year (1981). One recommendation to USCG and Federal Highway Administration was to develop standards for the design, performance, and location of structural bridge pier protection systems which consider that the impact from an off-course vessel can occur significantly above as well as below the water surface. This most likely lead to the creation of the dolphins and was adapted to new-build bridges. Another recommendation to both was to conduct a study to determine which existing bridges over the navigable waterways of U.S. ports and harbors are not equipped with adequate structural pier protection. Was this study ever made and was it made public? I have yet to find it. But as always NTSB recommendations are only that, recommendations. Unfortunately.

[@davidtirschman6288]

Thanks for sharing your information. I live a few miles from the Key bridge and have driven over it quite a number of times. I have been monitoring the information and think something fishy is going on. An enlarged view of the video makes it appear that the ship has enough power to steer into the bridge support at its weakest point. With all the crazy things going on the world it seems just too ridiculous to rule out sabotage. One thing to note is with the closure of this port the movement of hazmat materials is broken cut in two along the I 95 corridor. Using any of the 2 local tunnels is forbidden and 4 military vessels at least currently stranded inside the port while it is closed is another important factor. Sorry for what happened there at st. Pete and your communities situation you had there no matter how long ago it happened. I had an uncle and aunt and aunt who lived there in St. Pete and have many fond memories of the town from when I was younger. I cannot wait till better days are coming to America and the whole world Have a good day.

[@adde9506]

It's an unfortunately simple reason: big usual things don't happen often, so what are the odds now? It's having something like this happen in a relatively short time that makes the response change from "do things better from now on" to "retrofit all things to be better now." I really hope it doesn't turn out to be that efforts to control the ship actually diverted her from passing cleanly under the span. That might be enough to make people complacent to preventing a repeat.

[@iam1smiley1]

America has badly aging infrastructure in many places and little has been done about it the last 40 year's...not a political priority.

[@danac2717]

I am a lifelong resident of MD. I live about 65 miles west of Baltimore. I have traveled this bridge and others that go from the west side to Maryland’s eastern shore my entire life. Just two days ago our son showed us your channel and then this accident happened. I truly appreciate your knowledgeable insight and your other informative, fascinating videos. Thank you!

[@debjoy12]

Frederick? lol I'm a lifelong Eldersburg resident, it's so surreal seeing our local accident go viral worldwide. I went to UMBC and you could see the bridge very clearly from campus unless weather was very bad.

[@danac2717]

@@debjoy12 Hagerstown. Yes it is surreal and such a tragedy on so many levels.

[@worldboxroblox]

I live south west of Baltimore and have for my entire life seeing this after loving this bridge is crazy

[@jspaceemperor420]

The only channel I trust to cover disasters like this.

[@sailortristan]

Check out Sal mercagliano... far more qualified

[@shogun2215]

Try Brick Immortar. At least they wait for all the evidence to come out before analysing disasters.

[@jspaceemperor420]

​@@shogun2215It'll be months before Brick Immortar uploads a video on this incident, Mike took 1 day frankly there's no comparison to me atleast (When they do upload I will be checking them out, Don't get me wrong)

[@firstnamelastname6216]

Yes!!! I was just trying to comment the same and my comment suddenly disappeared... Anyway, we love our friend Mike Brady from Oceanliner Designs, of course lol, but B.I. goes in depth(no pun intended) and is held in high regard. 👍✌️​@@shogun2215

[@VXGaming]

Causal Navigation is worth a look at.

[@emospiderbutton]

Mike, you operate one of the finest and highest quality channels on KZbin. You deserve every bit of success you receieve and will continue to receive.

[@melissacoxen6001]

Youre one of the only channels that i trust to get this sort of analysis. You have no bias or reason to tweak the facts to fit a story narrative. Thank you for this video.

[@sifridbassoon]

For those who don't know, Baltimore harbor is historic. During the War of 1812 (between England and US), an American lawyer was on a British ship that was at anchor in the harbor. He watched the British shelling of Fort McKinley, which was on an island in the harbor. The morning after the shelling, he was shocked to see the American flag still flying over the fort, and he was inspired to write a poem about it. His name was Francis Scott Key, and his poem went on to become the words to the American National Anthem.

[@Spike-sk7ql]

Was going to say this. Thanks for being on the ball.

[@Spike-sk7ql]

Also, isn't Fort McKinley right there? Like that's the reason that bridge was named the Francis Scott Key bridge?

[@thriftabout5110]

Fort McHenry

[@Teverell]

Also during the War of 1812, a British frigate and an American frigate went head-to-head in a single-ship duel that resulted in the first time an American frigate was bested by a British one (the American frigates were overall much larger than British frigates). The British ship was HMS Shannon, the American ship was USS Chesapeake, named for Chesapeake Bay.

[@votersvanguard4898]

@@Spike-sk7qlYes…that’s exactly why it’s called the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

[@brendancaulfield970]

According to the excellent "what's going on with shipping" analysis, tugs in Baltimore typically assist ships out of port, but return to base well before the bridge. Dali was escorted in that manner, with the tugs departing before the ship entered the field of view of the webcam.

[@amitisshahbanu5642]

Maybe the tugs will go further in future. I love tug boats and they used to be anchored in Fells Point at the base of Broadway. Tug boats had the name Curtis Bay, started in 1910, associated with them. Curtis Bay was acquired by the Moran company. Curtis Bay is on the other side from Dundalk on the Patapsco

[@shaynewheeler9249]

Titanic

[@WiseTreee]

I understand crew was Indian. But were the captains/pilots Indian as well?? Why no one is talking about them ?

[@shaynewheeler9249]

Titanic

[@MegaLokopo]

@@WiseTreee Who cares if they were indian?

[@gregorykrajeski6255]

A couple of points for non-Americans: I-95 is the major highway that runs from southern Florida through all of the populated East Coast cities up all the way to Canada. I-695 is a loop that goes around Baltimore rather than going through the city center. Therefore anyone going north from Florida / Washington or south from New York, Boston, or Philadelphia would go over this bridge [Edit: if they want to avoid local traffic or if their vehicle does not meet more restrictive size and weight and content limitations of other routes or if they are headded towards the industrial regions around 695]. Francis Scott Key, FWIW, wrote the national anthem while watching the British attack Baltimore during the War of 1812.

[@Miakel]

Also note that dangerous goods vehicles are not permitted through the tunnels and instead take this bridge. There is another route to the west of Baltimore but it is a significantly longer route.

[@kebabaluba]

So what happens now with traffic and economy with a collapsed bridge?

[@vanacrossamerica]

Most traffic uses one of the two tunnels under the harbor. This bridge exists mainly to serve the ports in the area and for hazmat traffic which can't use the tunnels. So, to say anyone traveling north or south on the I-95 corridor must use this bridge is erroneous.

[@brendancaulfield970]

​@@kebabalubathe consequences for road traffic are relatively minor, but the port of Baltimore is a major port for the US. It's completely cut off by debris now, and will be inaccessible for at least months. This is a massive blow for the city's economy. The federal government has volunteered to foot the bill for the rebuilding of the bridge.

[@eldoolittle]

Your take on traffic patterns around Baltimore is incorrect. Most north-south through traffic on I-95 take the tunnels on I-895.

[@gregpanek523]

My 33 year old daughter called me and asked if her brother was OK. I said, why, what are you talking about? She said the bridge in Baltimore collapsed, I was wondering if he was on it. I paused a moment, took a deep breath, exhaled, and said, Kim, your brother lives in Boston, not Baltimore, that's a bit too much distance to be commuting to work and back. She just said, Oh, I couldn't remember, they both start with "B's".I just shook my head and wondered what they taught her in school.

[@emo7636]

This has got to be the best, funniest, most underrated comment I've seen in a long time.

[@raylast3873]

People panic, bro, it happens.

[@icarus_is_tired544]

Thank you for covering this, and something that I thought of while listening to the beginning of this video is that- History was once the present, so covering topics such as this as they happen is just as important as covering what's happened before, to ensure it's never forgotten, and never repeated. Rest in peace to all those who have lost their lives, and my sincerest regards to all those who have lost loved ones and those who have survived in this tragic event.

[@RealRoccodile]

For having so little time to do research and having so little reliable info at this time, this video is insanely informative on the situation. Well done.

[@BureauKat]

Thank you for covering this. I live in the DC-Baltimore area and it’s surreal to see the footage of a bridge I use frequently tumbling down. P.S., Yes, NTSB will head up the investigation. The focus thus far has been search and rescue-sonar revealed that there are indeed cars in the water. FYI: the Key Bridge was the world’s third longest truss bridge.

[@BRTowe]

Where are you getting that information from? I haven't seen any mention of anyone still believed to be in the water aside from the 6 construction workers.

[@votersvanguard4898]

@@BRToweThe news I was watching earlier had the Congressman for the district on and he said they had sonar images showing vehicles in the river. Though they didn’t know if there were people in them or not. I’m guessing one possibility is that they could have been the vehicles of the construction workers, in which case they would likely be unoccupied.

[@sheacd1]

its frigging scary.... i spent the day wondering if my former coworkers were on the bridge when it went down. very bad day... everyone safe, thank god....

[@deadsetanime7102]

It's a good chance that those cars belonged to some of the workers. Often with lane closures here the workers will park their cars on site. Also given the length of the bridge, walking isn't really practical. What I do know however is that MDOT did shut down traffic before the strike happened so I will say that they were on point that night. Truck traffic coming from North East and from Sparrow's Point is very common as they run freight into BWI and this was the fastest route from the Eastern Shore area. Sparrows Point is a major distribution area in Baltimore hosting Amazon, Home Depot, Under Armor etc.... Just north we have Clorox, Frito-Lay, Coke, Military Bases like Aberdeen Proving Ground... The list of commercial industry in this area that will be effected by the loss of that bridge is extensive.

[@adde9506]

@@BRTowe You can clearly see the flashing lights of construction vehicles on the bridge falling into the water. Being inside the vehicles may have allowed them to survive the fall, but escaping a submerged vehicle is difficult and requires you to know how to swim and be intact enough to do so.

[@CapitalismSuxx]

Glad you did this short summary. When I saw your upload I was afraid you'd speculate but this was an honest telling of events and I learned things about ship navigations and tugs. Thankyou!

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

There's not much to speculate at this point. There are details that the NTSB will likely uncover to explain things like why the ship broke down so soon after getting underway, but the basics of what happened aren't that difficult to work out based on the excellent video quality that's available of the entire thing.

[@brittanyhyatt3407]

Mike is definitely not one to speculate. He bases his videos on facts (in this case facts he has at the time) which is one reason I love his videos and respect his analysis 😊

[@erikmeltzer-rt7rh]

It is always good to have a friend like Mike Brady explain things in a calm, knowledgeable, and respectful manner. Thank you.

[@gettingfit8501]

I live 30 min from Baltimore and worked in the city until February. As soon as I heard about this I thought "I wonder if Mike will make a video about this?" So glad that you did so I can get a comprehensive analysis of what happened!

[@SeanBZA]

Thing is this has essentially closed a major harbour, and also stopped traffic flow for the entire area as well. Going to mean a massive delay all over the world, as ships that were contracted to leave do not, and cargo going in has to divert and wait at other ports, then get shipped by rail or road to destination.

[@BRTowe]

It's early to say how much of a delay it will cause. It may be a rather straightforward operation to clear the shipping channel, and being a large American port, it's likely that massive resources will come to bear to get it reopened.

[@aimers3715]

And 2 cruise lines stop there, carnival is being rerouted, I have not heard about royal carribean yet.

[@lellyt2372]

Interesting

[@TheRibottoStudios]

@@BRTowe Not really. Baltimore Harbor is a major docking site. It's going to cause major disruption world wide.

[@hannahp1108]

@@BRToweIt's the number one US port for auto imports. It's gonna be a big deal

[@sharonsplat]

Such a horrible thing to happen. My heart goes out to families who have lost loved ones or are dealing with injuries. So sad.

[@graphiquejack]

Thank goodness it looks like many lives were saved by the ship’s mayday and even by people on the bridge stopping traffic from going on the bridge. I don’t know how that all happened so quickly, but you can see a few cars speeding along the bridge and then nothing right before the bridge falls. If it had been during the day, or if people didn’t get the warning in time, it could have been so much worse.

[@scallie6462]

I'm kind of mad how there is not much talk about the construction crew who were on the bridge when it collapsed.. Law Enforcment evidently shut down both sides and you can see the last vehicles cross over just before the collapse, but what effort was made to save those men? I know, there probably was no chance for them, but the lack of conversation about the lives lost is insulting. Nobody cares because they were working class men.

[@NathanLipetz]

@@scallie6462working class and not American born. Complete recipe for being ignored by media

[@scallie6462]

@@NathanLipetz are you poaitive they are not American born?

[@NathanLipetz]

@@scallie6462 they reportedly are all from Spanish speaking countries, meaning they were probably immigrants.

[@chrisperrien7055]

That the police managed to stop traffic in less than 5 minutes once the ship lost control and sent a Mayday, then relayed to them was amazing. Yes it was 1: 30 AM , but I commend the police/dispatchers/port authority/ship's crew involved for quickly reacting saving many lives. So far ,there are only 6 dead from a bridge maintenance crew and the vehicles lost were their vehicles. You can see 3-4 stopped/parked vehicles with yellow flashing lights on the bridge before the collapse. I assume these were vehicles of the maintenance crew. No civilians vehicles/people seem to has been lost. Really miraculous given the scale of the disaster.

[@cruisinguy6024]

I’m amazed that traffic was able to be stopped in time. I’m curious to hear the chain of events that enabled that, like who contacted police and by what method.

[@randomnickify]

Knowing Americans it was most likely paid bridge so there should be manned toll booths on both sides. Police dispatch most likely had direct line to them because car accidents on the bridge can get really dangerous so they most likely had procedures to stop the traffic in case something happens on the bridge or bellow it. The moment water police heard mayday signal they either called dispatch or the bridge directly.

[@zoeykillah]

Maintenance will normally use work vehicles to carpool in. So let’s just say those six workers were spread out in at least 3 cars. There are more than 3 cars on that bridge, as a matter of fact there was a 16 wheeler as well. I saw this minutes after it was uploaded. Why doesn’t anyone care about the people on the bridge, no one is talking about them. Even if the police was able to stop the traffic, the bridge more than likely had cars on it. Something isn’t adding up.

[@colincampbell767]

@@cruisinguy6024 Most likely would have been the Coast Guard. They got the mayday call and probably had a preexisting plan for how to respond to any threat to the bridge.

[@vaelophisnyx9873]

@@randomnickifyyou could investigate this before making wild claims; that's a major chunk of a highway system. No time for manned toll gates

[@AIRDRAC]

Great analysis and runthrough! The "Casual Navigation" channel pointed out that the side channel that meets up with the main shipping lane just before the bridge, would affect the currents, potentially pulling the ship towards the pylon, despite the rudder staying straight ahead, so if all control went offline, it's possible that the natural progression of the vessel would be straight into the bridge pier.

[@vanessadalpiaz6423]

I really appreciate your takes on situations like this. It’s always so respectful and rooted in the factual information. So helpful for staying informed and learning.

[@timothysnyder4556]

Thanks Mike for covering this. I'm from PA and frequently cruise out of Baltimore port with Carnival. It's truly surreal that this has happened and a tragic loss of life. You asked about Tugs - according to the port, it's standard procedure that they pull the ship from port, guide them to the channel, then release. Dali initially had 2 tugs when leaving, but they released once the ship was in the channel.

[@Anton-tf9iw]

Weird, as there are more narrow passages out of Chesapeak bay, including the Bay bridge tunnel gap.

[@TechGorilla1987]

York county PA here.

[@davidtirschman6288]

Thanks for sharing your information. I live in Baltimore and heard there were 2 tugs assigned to get it started and after it left the dock I have no clue where they went. There are a number of things that sound fishy to me. Have a good day.

[@adde9506]

I hope Mike is right that the tugs will stay with ships longer after this. I wonder if it simply has always been this way, that the ships are under their own power in the channel and don't "need" help, or if it's a hundred years of complacency showing.

[@butchs.4239]

@@adde9506 I believe the complacency was in not upgrading the protection for the bridge's support piers as ships coming into the port have gotten larger.

[@AATGStudios]

Thanks for covering this Mike, your finger is always on the pulse!

[@mikeyhau]

It's a terrible accident with loss of life, but it's so fortunate that didn't happen during peak hour when presumably the bridge would have been full of vehicles.

[@scottv1600]

The reason there was no traffic was that they were able to shut the bridge as the Captain radioed the local area they had lost power, and MD coastguard etc were able to respond and shut it down - about 60s before the impact. One would think in the middle of the day, that if a bridge were to be closed, within that 60s it would be able to clear a decent chunk of the traffic, but you are right it would have slightly more traffic - so the ship captain and MD authorities did a phenomenal job (Edit - accidentally spelt "shut" as "shit" so changed it)

[@crptpyr]

​@@scottv1600there was still some traffic, mind you, there were a few vehicles on the bridge when it went down

[@scottv1600]

​@@crptpyr The vehicles on the bridge were the vehicles of the 8 people who were repairing the portholes etc. Who had left them parked on the bridge. All the crossing traffic had cleared the bridge (it's why the only actual casualties are those 8 workers, 2 of which survived), with the ship board workers all safely below decks

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

@@scottv1600 And that was a bit of bad luck as there's a decent chance it would have been zero fatalities if they'd been able to get instructions to run for the other main support pylon. This was a suspension bridge and the safest place on it was on the other support pylon where the roadway wasn't being held up by the parts that collapsed. And that's generally true of suspension bridge collapses, if you're at the tower, you've got a good chance, if you're in the middle, you're pretty much screwed.

[@sjgrall]

Having driven over this bridge many times, I never even considered the possibility of this happening.

[@catwellman9480]

I know I'm not your only Baltimore subscriber and on behalf of all of us, thank you for the thoughtful and thorough video.

[@aimers3715]

I was born and raised there, only just moved 2 years ago. I have tons of family that live within 2 miles of the bridge from both sides (city and county). When it went down, they were awoken from sleep as it felt like an earthquake, and houses shook.

[@cruisinguy6024]

Houses shook from a bridge falling into water?

[@vaelophisnyx9873]

@@cruisinguy6024 remember, there was a multi-thousand-ton container ship that also slammed into a concrete piling that goes down to bedrock

[@actually5004]

I'm glad you can read and write.

[@aimers3715]

@cruisinguy6024 yes. That part of the bridge is a major connection between city and county. Part of the baltimore beltway, I-695. If a building fell, would it not be felt by everything surrounding it for 1 to 2 miles?

[@davidharing6475]

Minor thing for those who might not understand the terms, as a civil engineer here, the pylon is the high tower part that supports a cable or suspension bridge, the part in the water is called the pier.

[@OceanlinerDesigns]

Thank you, Pier is the word I was looking for :) I think I found it once haha

[@davidharing6475]

@@OceanlinerDesigns You're welcome.

[@foo219]

So... I've heard a bridgebuilding expert say the pylons were flimsy and unprotected, and now a shipping expert says the ship should have had tugs. There's going to be a lot of questions asked and for some reason I think the answer to many of them will be "because savings"

[@KjartanAndersen]

Tugs were present, but they left as soon as the ship had turned into the main channel and was making good way. This will obviously be criticized in the aftermath of this incident. With the narrow navigation under the bridge it is clear that the tugs should have been present until the ship has passed the bridge. I do not know who is responsible for dismissing the service of the tugs. Captain, pilot, tugs themselves? Either way it was sadly too soon this time.

[@SImrobert2001]

I could tell that the pylons seemed underprotected, though, with this much force, its likely that adequate protection would mean that the shipping lane itself might be unusable for the vessels currently using it. I remember the BBC asking multiple experts if the bridge had engineering problems, and every one of them said "No. With that much energy, no current manmade structure would have survived." As for tugs, that sounds like something local. As in, specific countries have their own laws, customs, and legal requirements. I don't know of any ship required to use tugs that far out from dock.

[@SImrobert2001]

@@KjartanAndersen Ah, okay. Thanks for the information.

[@Galiant2010]

Just as the Titanic spurred more rigorous lifeboat laws, so might this bring about more strict tugboat laws.

[@moggpiano8043]

It's not true that the supports were unprotected. There are dolphins and fenders but these vessels are just too big and heavy for them. A 20th century bridge hit by a 21st century ship.

[@AlashiaTuol]

I have watched your channel for years and I have to say: it is quite surreal to watch someone I'm used to hearing discuss distant international events talk about a bridge five minutes from my high school. That said, thank you for the video and coverage. Local news has been mostly focused on the rescue/recovery efforts, the victims' families, alternative traffic route recommendations, and playbacks of the crash video; the details of the event itself and the circumstances that led to it have been mentioned but WBAL hasn't done a great job explaining it when I've been tunning in.

[@FranssensM]

Mike just adds that bit of extra knowledge and detail. Calmly providing an interpretation of the known events. No sensationalism.

[@stephenmorrison9707]

Always love your channel and use your videos as a training video to my crew. (Just retired from the biz) For that turn to starboard…if the engine failure/brown out occurred when passing by the Curtis Bay channel (that leads to the USCG Yard), the hydrodynamic properties of a gap in the channel on the starboard side, could pull a vessel to the starboard side. Hopefully this helps.

[@IntrepidMilo]

From the videos it appears that the vessel lost power a couple of times. If this is what indeed happened the loss of power would have meant that the vessel lost steerage. There is a second smaller channel entering the main shipping channel. So it is safe to assume that the loss of power and loss of steering coupled with bank suction the vessel was pulled starboard and hit the bridge.

[@zanderxymox]

As a Maryland native, I always feared this would happen to the Bay Bridge that spans across the Chesapeake Bay, but this is still absolutely devastating to our state. The FSK Bridge was a major part of our land transportation and shipping. I still can't believe the bridge is gone.

[@zanderxymox]

Some more information recently came out that you may not have had at the time of making this video. But you're right it's odd that the ship didn't have Tugs on it past the FSK Bridge. But apparently that's been part of the normal procedure for Baltimore Harbor because it would be too costly for the companies, and us (taxpayers). An HVAC worker on the ship stated that the ship kept losing power the night prior to this accident happening. And another possible problem is the quality of the fuel that was used, some experts believe that the quality of the fuel kept causing the engines to shut off and have problems restarting, so when it did restart from one of the power losses you see thick black smoke, that could either be from them slamming it in reverse, or the engines simply having a really hard time staying running. What is known is that there is evidence the Pilot did everything they possibly could to prevent this accident once it started happening after the first power loss, even going beyond and notifying MDOT (Maryland Department of Transportation) that they are on course to hit the bridge and to block it off ASAP. Unfortunately it was too late and there were still some cars and construction workers on the bridge who all went into the water, and as of right now March 27th 6:45AM there are still 6 workers missing.

[@blackfoxstudioX]

At least not the whole bridge is gone, seems like the middle section could be rebuild fairly quickly. Its just matter of funding.

[@patgreco2098]

@blackfoxstudioX Money printer go brrrrrrrrrrrr.

[@davidtirschman6288]

I live east of the city and agree the loss of such an important service is heartbreaking. Some of the information is a bit fishy and find it hard to believe that it was just a simple accident. Only time will tell. One other thing to note is with the closure of this port the movement of hazmat materials is broken cut in two along the I 95 corridor and 4 military vessels at least currently stranded inside the port while it is closed are important factors. I am not easily saddened but the thought of all the suffering that going to take place makes me guarded about the issue. Be safe better days are coming.

[@hmartin7544]

Its very nice to hear someone actually give the facts about this disaster. We have alot of "so called experts" talking about this and not saying much. I live in Baltimore, have crossed this structure many times. Always enjoy your video's, thank you. 👍👍

[@emo7636]

I just want to say I thoroughly enjoy and love the fact that you wear a suit/vest and tie during your videos. You just look so propper and dapper, it's really lovely.

[@catsandmusicandmorecats9146]

It's also important to note that the FSK Bridge was the only route 'hazardous materials' were allowed to take through Baltimore -- the tunnels are off limits. I have an RV with a standard 20-gallon propane tank on it, just like a grill in the USA would have, and that's not allowed through the tunnels (this is the route I would take each year from Virginia to home up in New England; I last crossed this bridge at the end of May 2023). Even a bottle half that size is not allowed through the tunnels. Obviously therefore, trucks carrying gasoline, oil, chemicals, propane, etc are not allowed through the tunnels either. So this route was an important truck route and this accident is going to significantly lengthen routes trucks will take, which translates to increased shipping costs, which will get passed on to the consumer. Also, the most obvious alternate route through the Eastern Shore of VA, MD and DE is mostly an undivided 4 lane route with tons of traffic lights and lower speed limits, and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is very expensive for a truck to take.

[@mercurybard9794]

Thanks for the info on the hazmat regs for the Baltimore area.

[@patrick1564]

thanks for covering this, need and respect your thoughts. Good morning from Canada, goodnight to Australia.

[@roboboydax]

It’s quite terrifying to think that even that with better navigational equipment things like this can still happen. RIP to all those lives lost.😢

[@wrightbros5962]

God rest their souls (If they're Christians)

[@MikeHunt-fo3ow]

they lost power they werent lost

[@RoBert-ix6ev]

They exactly knew,where they are, just couldn't steer...

[@goosehubtheshipnerd]

They wound up under tech failure wich is stupid when u consider that inspectors warned them of these issues and yet they ignored them WOOPDEDOO HERE WE ARE

[@Jhgykjhuih]

Do they need navigational equipment to see a massive bridge?

[@rcsutter]

Your videos started popping up in my recs a couple weeks ago. I've watched a number of your vids since, I'm very impressed by the quality of your content. It's interesting, informative, and you present it well. This video is no exception, very well done. You've got another subscriber!

[@TyRose1984]

I’m in Baltimore and I’ve followed this channel for a while now. And I’m glad you are covering it. I’ve learned so much already from this channel.

[@scottM-ws7yo]

A terrible situation and really well explained video. However just a couple of things that aren’t quite right. The reason there were no tugs with DALI is that they had finished their task and had been dismissed as the ship was building up speed. At 8 knots tugs wouldn’t be able to do much anyway as they are approaching their top speed. It’s actually very dangerous to keep tugs attached as there is a risk of pulling the tug over (called girding). Most ports around the world don’t have tugs staying with ships for very long before or after passing under bridges. There are exceptions, Hobart for example, but more often than not no tugs are there. The other minor point is that vessels of this weight (@100,000 tonnes), anchors will do almost nothing at 8 knots. They still should be dropped as it will reduce speed slowly, but given how close DALI was to the bridge, there wasn’t enough time for the anchors to have any real effect. Last thing I’ll say is the quick mayday call by the pilots saved many, many lives. They should be applauded, not condemned. For the record, I have almost 30 years in the industry, 15 as a harbour pilot.

[@LUNUSt]

I'm born and raised in Baltimore. In December I sailed under that bridge on vision of the seas and got incredible pictures of it and what the underside of the road deck looked like. Fun facts, about Port of Baltimore, she's been serving passenger vessels for over 100 years now including actual ocean liners, she's also the current home of the only nuclear powered ocean liner, Savanah.

[@davidtirschman6288]

Me too I lived my whole life here. I think something is fishy about the quick explanation only time will tell.

[@actually5004]

It's awesome that you can read and write despite being from Baltimore.

[@connorredshaw5650]

Rip to those lost in this tragic accident.😔

[@TradinTigerJohn]

One of my favorite authors, Gore Vidal, once famously said, "I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I'm a conspiracy analyst." In context, he was referring to the reality that to understand events, you had to ignore politics, spin, narratives, and pet theories and examine something journalists seem to have forgotten about these days (and in the past too; just look at how Hearst twisted the Titanic story), namely facts. I was actually waiting for you to comment on this major maritime disaster since you do such a good job of applying critical thinking informed by meticulous research to explain so many things about historical events in the world of ships. As the investigation proceeds, I look forward to your updates on what was behind this tragic event. Your historical and technical expertise puts you in a good position to shed light on current maritime events like this one. Thank you!

[@leandabee]

Reminds me of the Tasman bridge disaster here in Tasmania, when a bulk iron ore carrier collided with the bridge in 1975. So sad and tragic 😥

[@Teverell]

Oh wow. It reminded me very strongly of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge disaster in 1980 when a ship collided with a bridge in Florida, likewise bringing it down.

[@RebelCowboysRVs]

This bridge was built before both of those. After those happened, new bridges had crash protection designed in. This one was never upgraded. It was a known danger, but the funds were never given.

[@oriontaylor]

The Severn Railway Bridge came down in 1960 in a similar accident.

[@sparticusfinch8588]

The ship I’m stationed on pulled into Baltimore a few days before this happened for maintenance. We’re home ported in Florida. What a horrible accident. I’m an engineer in the main propulsion department. We constantly run drills and train for things like loss of steering. My ship is 60+ years old, but she’s filled with redundancies in almost all of her systems. If both generators were to fail, our backup should kick on. Our control panel for the main engines is actually pneumatic, so even if we lose power we’re still capable of maneuvering. I’m very curious to learn what happened in the engine room on that cargo ship. I don’t have any idea what her systems look like, but a lot of things must have failed for this to happen the way it did. Pray for the families of the people who were on that bridge.

[@agentcazu]

Never clicked a video so fast. 10 seconds after it was posted.

[@Soacwiththaface]

That's was fast.

[@caydencasamento7146]

Mike Brady I was hoping you’d make a video about this, I live 5 minutes away from it and take it almost everyday for work and traveling home. The collapse of this bridge was devastating to those living in the area and we are all saddened by the tragedy of those who lives were lost on the bridge that morning. Thank you for bringing light to the situation and informing others❤

[@darrenconger4786]

This is the only channel I watch to understand ships. I live a few hours away from where this disaster happened. Thank you for doing a video on this.

[@pamelah6431]

Amazed by the number of petty, disrespectful whiners in the comments section. This video was informative, interesting, and well done. Thanks for doing it and don't pay attention to the complainers.

[@theslicefactor4590]

There's no conspiracy, it was just an accident.

[@ayethe4603]

Still there should be an investigation into what happened on the ship wether it was failure to do Maintenance or a failure in the electrical system so they can learn from it and build better more redundant ships or start a better program of keeping ships in working order also requirements on have tugboats guidance under bridges

[@erikhendrickson59]

​@@ayethe4603There is dude

[@theslicefactor4590]

@@ayethe4603 I didn’t suggest there shouldn’t be one.

[@patrickcahill9592]

Epstein also killed himself

[@Nitin-gp4ct]

Thanks for a detailed in-depth review of the incident ! I have been sailing as Captain of Valemax vessels which are 360m long/65 m wide for the last 9 years and i can tell you from experience that it is no mean job navigating these vessels in constrained waters! Dali was unfortunate that a chain of events occurred that night leading to such a catastrophe!

[@TCOlsenGillig]

Mike Brady; I'm a big fan of the Oceanliner Designs channel. Thank you for doing a great job. Great coverage on the Baltimore Bridge. Thank you.

[@gingercatqueen4368]

I couldn’t believe how fast the bridge went down. It looked like a toothpick model snapped into pieces! 😢

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

when it comes to the weights concerned, that would actually be an overestimation of the systems durability... the ship weighed nearly 10x that of the bridge.

[@colincampbell767]

It was a canteliver bridge. Basically, the sections of the bridge are balanced on the supports. That's why the bridge failed one part after another.

[@coreydavis6868]

what the other relies said but you have to remember this ship hit the bridge with the force of ~280 million newtons on a relatively small area. a car at the same speed is like 5k newtons.

[@mattt233]

At Baltimore when the ship is in the Channrl the tugs are not used. They are only used to maneuver the ship to and from the dock inside the harbor.

[@cheesyllama]

Great video to watch as I'm getting ready for work (I'm usually not this early in videos!) Appreciate the initial thoughts, given your experience with ships and their inner workings. :) Side note: Francis Scott Key was the lawyer/poet who penned the Star Spangled Banner. (America's national anthem).

[@Verdi.and.violet]

I am so glad you did this video! Thank you. I felt like your channel was the only place I was going to find good and reliable information.

[@alancats]

Great analysis and insights, as always, from our friend, Mr. Mike Brady! Always informative and entertaining.

[@MoparNewport]

As others have mentioned, Sal over on "What's going on with shipping" has observed that it appears that, either due to hardware fault OR crew error, the ship went to full reverse after the power dropped twice, which given the design of the ship being a traditional single screw single rudder hull was the wrong move. The raw hydrodynamics would've caused the stern to kick off to port and the bow to starboard, corroborated by the belch of smoke seen. The NTSB report is going to be extremely telling. One other thing i wager we see come out of this is a redesign not of bridges but whats around them - were cement or dirt pilings set up outside of the support pylons, giving a massive 100k ton ship to hit into before the structure itself, this outcome wouldve been much different. Sure, the ship would be much more damaged, but the bridge would be intact in theory.

[@RebelCowboysRVs]

This happened in Australia in 1975 an Florida in 1980. Crash protection has been a design feature sense then. This bridge is older, construction starting in 1972. Everyone knew this danger existed. No money was ever given to upgrade it.

[@oriontaylor]

@@RebelCowboysRVs Also when some barges hit the Severn Bridge in Britain in 1960 (for the umpteenth time).

[@cruisinguy6024]

There’s no practical or reasonable method to protect from this much kinetic energy from a fully loaded container ship. They’d damn near have to build a dam across the river.

[@MoparNewport]

@@cruisinguy6024 I agree the kinetic energy is immense, however; building up the earth to the pillars, to say a depth of 10' or so by say 500' out, should provide sufficient protection from such a heavy hit. anything with that mass is gonna be so damn deep as to run aground; anything with shallow enough draft should be light enough for the bridge pylons/protection to absorb.

[@SteveSSzymczak]

A few things. The black smoke is from the crew starting up the emergency generators. Trying to get enough power to get rudder control back. Two tugs were used to get the ship off the dock, into the channel, and to make that 180 turn. Once the ship is stable in the channel the tugs are no longer needed. A ship with two tugs along side wouldn’t fit between those power line pylons and under the bridge at the same time.

[@Mariazellerbahn]

Apparently, the captain was wanted on the bridge.

[@R4ND0M_P3RS0N2]

Yea

[@wayneantoniazzi2706]

Great report Mike! Straightforward and with no "Monday-morning quarterbacking" as we say here in the US, just good reporting and good observations. Well done!

[@j0hny00s]

Never did I ever expect this channel to do a video on something that’s 5 minutes away from me. The Key Bridge is iconic and we Baltimoreans love it. Thank you for the video. RIP.

[@breakingaustin]

The amount of people I have seen commenting on videos about this saying stuff like 'It looked like it turned on purpose'.. and 'who is behind this I wonder'... just proves that no matter the tragedy, there will always be idiots in the comments.. who and what do they think they are achieving by hitting a bridge with nothing but a maintenance crew on it? My heart goes out to their families. Working hard through the night to keep a huge part of the city's infrastructure maintained and they didn't deserve this. RIP.

[@RebelCowboysRVs]

Had a debate yesterday with a guy telling everyone a cyber attacker clearly took over the ship an drove it in to the bridge. He said the power going off was them resetting the computers, fighting the cyber attacker. Guy was sure that was the most likely cause given the evidence. People watch to many movies.

[@MidnightIsolde]

I think some people simply cannot accept that tragic accidents just happen. So, thry assume there's some foul play or conspiracy, because the mundane truth that tragic accidents or mishaps can just happen is disturbing to them.

[@SnakeSalmon8izback]

middle school dropouts are sadly correlated with being loud and overconfident

[@andrewtaylor940]

This ship was roughly 100,000 gross tons when loaded. That’s as heavy as the USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier or almost twice as heavy as the largest Battleships ever built. So you have the same mass as the largest warships ever built. But nowhere near the same maneuvering capacity. I believe this ship is single screw direct drive diesel with a fixed pitch prop and a single rudder. So 100,000 tons in motion at 8 knots with a complete loss of power and steering. Heading for a bridge that had no protective barriers around the bridge piers. Horrifying.

[@cauldron938]

Crazybhow this happened yesterday and there are already videos on it

[@kylejasper4767]

I live about 40 minutes away from where this happened. Everyone here in Maryland is pretty shaken by what happened. Thank you for covering this and giving your educated input.

[@doggonemess1]

Hey, you pronounced Maryland properly! Most blokes from Commonwealth countries pronounce it "MARY - land", while it's pronounced "MARE-a-lind". I live about ten miles from the Key Bridge. Unlike most other people close to something that made international news, I freely admin that I didn't see, hear, or experience anything. I found out hours afterwards. I used to work in Baltimore and sometimes used the Key. It looked and felt old, and made your tires make unsettling noises. I never liked it from a driving standpoint. Of course, the collapse has nothing to do with age (in theory), but I took the tunnel or went around the topside most of the time to avoid the bridge. Plus, traffic was usually bad due to the toll lanes. Fortunately, I don't work in Baltimore anymore. Traffic there sucks. Not as bad as Long Island or LA, but it's bad. I can only imagine how much worse it will be with the beltway out of order. The Chesapeake is dangerous for shipping and even small boats. It has its own microclimate that frequently turns sour without much warning. There are places where the sandbars go from 50 feet deep to hull scraping in seconds. And while there aren't many bridges, the ones we have tend to be massive, like the Bay Bridge, which is actually two bridges next to each other; also there is the Bay Bridge tunnel, which is a combination of bridges and tunnels at the mouth of the bay. An engineer once told me that it's so long that they do inspections non-stop, a little section each day. When they reach the end, they start over at the beginning in a never-ending loop.

[@davidanderson1889]

Hello Mike. Just a humble suggestion: If you would hold the image still and not move it around as erratically as you do, then maybe we all could have a look at it and get an idea of the situation. Just a thought ;-)

[@maryroberts2099]

Exactly. I’m getting dizzy from all the jumpy pictures

[@ltcterry2006]

Want to add to this - the jerky movement(s) of the maps is uncomfortable to watch. Otherwise, great video particularly considering how quickly it came out. I'm enjoyed all of Mike's videos I've watched so far.

[@100SteveB]

That bridge, and many like it built in a similar style, crossing a channel to a major port, are only ever one engine failure away from a possible disaster. For me that is a scary thought. The use of tugs for such an old bridge - that is in no way protected from collisions, seems to be an obvious choice. Can you imagine the loss of life if this had happened during rush hour, when it is likely the port authority would not have time to clear the bridge? And even at gone 1am it was only the quick actions of certain people that stopped the flow of traffic on the bridge. In the short time between the power outage on the ship, and the ship sending out a distress call, the authorities on shore got that bridge closed. And it would seem, if it was not for those poor folks working on the deck of the bridge - fixing pot-holes or something similar, if they had not been out there that night then there may have been no lives lost at all. So i take my hat off to those responsible for getting that bridge closed so quickly. Modern bridges have much more protection designed into them from the start - be that massive concrete encasements around the piers, or the level of the river or sea bed is raised on the lead up to the piers, so any vessel out of the channel will run aground before hitting the pier. But this old bridge had nothing like that, and the same can be said for many such bridges both in the states and around the world. And pretty much all of these bridges have one thing in common - a single failure point could well bring down the whole bridge - not just the section involved. Just like we watched happen with this one. Yes, having more tugs will be expensive, but I wonder how much this is going to cost in total? A major port shutdown, a massive salvage operation, and the cost of building a new bridge. This is going to cost billions, plus of course lives have been lost.

[@jeremyhargest2390]

Thank you for the detailed and professional coverage of this disaster, as always. I live in Baltimore and went over the bridge last week; I’m a big fan of your work, but I never thought I’d hear about something so close to home!

[@DancingPony1966-kp1zr]

I’m impressed at how fast you got a report on this incident out, Mike. Good going!

[@Flakmagnet1701]

Catastrophic failure was inevitable when one support was taken out like this. The bridge is basically as cantilever design, and each part 'leans' on the other, so the whole central span couldn't stay up once it was split in two. The bridge design is limited by the need to get large ships under it, and to make a space big enough. Last report I heard said there were 2 pilots aboard at the point of collision, and the ship sent a MayDay call. Personally, I think the world has got too 'used' to things being safe, and has stopped thinking 'what if'. Tugs probably should be used, but I bet they are not cheap to operate, and the cost for a tug service would come out of the ship operators profits. I don;t blame the shipping companies for wanting to make money...as any increased costs get passed on to the consumer anyway, and nobody wants to pay more for anything if they can help it. But this is a start reminder of what can happen, and with modern all electric/computerised systems, when the power fails completely there is no plan B for the ships crew.

[@innerlight7018]

What I don't understand; in such a heavy occupied passage under a bridge, why was there no instream ram protection for the bridge piers? We have a lot of them here in Germany on e.g. Elbe or Rhine bridges.

[@Knaeckebrotsaege]

There were, but they were too far away and the ship unfortunately managed to avoid one of them... the round thingies at 4:45 There's NTSB B-Roll drone footage up on the NTSBgov channel showing the scale of everything

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

there were, but they were an old design, from when ships were smaller and lighter, i.e. it would stop a Panamax, but not a Neo-Panamax.

[@PassionForGrammar]

Sometimes you just can't cover all the bases all the time

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

@@PassionForGrammar seems like this is a pretty obvious one though... it's guarding one of the very few 100% critical failure points the bridge has. (just two on the waterline level)

[@selseyonetwenty4631]

@@stanislavkostarnov2157 fully agree this looks negligent and should not be excused. If the ships got bigger then the protection should have got bigger also. Otherwise this was an incident that was always going to happen.

[@michael_iansmiththeMHistorian]

Here before the video is an hour old!

[@Crazy_Caleb2009]

Yep

[@phantoms2053]

Present. Reddit was faster though InB4 the first minutes were old.

[@kylerochoa7707]

I was literally thinking “I hope Mike covers this” this morning. I’ve had so many questions about this and this video answered them. Thank you, Mike!

[@willowsloughdx]

After learning more during the past 24 hours: 1. The Dali lost steering (rudder) but the single screw engine was running. The ship was experiencing power outages while underway. 2. Dali was moving forward at 7-8 knots when the exhaust cloud was seen on the video. This was caused by reversing the engine to slow or stop the vessel. 3. Like any single screw vessel it pulled hard to starboard (right hand direction) when thrown into reverse but kept moving forward. Even in reverse a nearly 1,000 ft. container ship will not stop on a dime. The rudder was not available to counteract this pull to starboard. This is what caused the hard right turn toward the supporting pier. 4. The Dali ran directly into the pier.

[@JG-ic3py]

From the news reports that I saw, the Port of Baltimore does not require tugs for ships leaving. I think they said that the Dali had 2 tugs that helped her turn around after leaving the pier, but they were detached afterwards and not nearby. When the Dali put out its mayday, they heard and tried to come and help but it was far too late. I agree with you though that it is almost certain that the rules will be rewritten to require tugs after this.

[@joshuarisker5525]

Unfortunately for me I grew up in Baltimore finally made it out of there at 20 but I drove over this bridge about 10k times and I always had intrusive thoughts about the bridge falling while im at the peak!this is so horrific... everything in Maryland is run down and trashy these days

[@philhawley1219]

I sailed into Baltimore under the Key bridge in 1987. We berthed on the waterfront and that part of town was lovely, smart restaurants, busy nightlife and a great atmosphere. A fascinating aquarium,USS Constitution and many other places of interest. I'm sorry to hear that the place is so run down now.

[@votersvanguard4898]

Despite the bridge being many decades old, I suspect it would have continued to function just fine had a massive cargo ship loaded with containers not collided with one of it’s most crucial supports.

[@Anton-tf9iw]

In Ukraine they have great bridges now, at least the funds for it....

[@tinypoolmodelshipyard]

Same, live in Tampa area now and feel the same going over the SkyWay. My 2 cities are now forever linked in disaster 😢

[@tinypoolmodelshipyard]

​@@votersvanguard4898almost every bridge would come down with over 100k tons hitting it. Islands and protective pylons can help, sadly the Key bridge was finished 3 years before the Skyway disaster highlighted why bridges need protective islands. There like watertight compartments for bridges

[@paulie-Gualtieri.]

Good morning Mike

[@OceanlinerDesigns]

Good morning Mr Walnuts!

[@AdelaideK22]

​@@OceanlinerDesignshow do you know him 😅

[@paulie-Gualtieri.]

​@@OceanlinerDesigns My name is Clarence 👋

[@hank1556]

​@@AdelaideK22Pauli Walnuts was a nickname for the guy he's using in his profile pic. A character on the show Sopranos

[@kevingreen9283]

Thanks Mike for your insights and professionalism. I know that you probably have obtained more complete information since the date of this video. Born and raised in this area, I live less than 15 minutes from the bridge. No matter the reasons, a sad day, as 6 men died in the collapse. Prayers for their families. In time, the channel will be cleared and a new bridge built, but we will not soon forget what happened here.

[@kittybitts567]

This is the best explanation of what happened and the best interpretation I've seen. This is an excellent channel.

[@RejonMunchausen]

I've been avoiding reading too much into this story until one of the reliable shipping youtubers I follow had a look...too much misunderstanding and conspiracy in the mainstream internet

[@jeanpascalskenya]

it's interesting that the generators never showed any signs of failure till they approached the bridge.... only to cause abrupt power outage at intervals during the most crucial moment.... putting the whole ship right ahead on collision course with the bridge support. Put your navigational theories aside just by seeing this is not something normal.

[@davidtirschman6288]

I hate to be cynical but I cannot help but think something fishy is going on too. Only time will tell. If this was something intentional good luck for any conspirators involved. One other thing to note is with the closure of this port the movement of hazmat materials is broken cut in two along the I 95 corridor and 4 military vessels at least currently stranded inside the port while it is closed is another important factor.

[@Longlius]

Generator failures happen all the time. One happening at the worst possible time is indicative of extremely bad luck, not a conspiracy.

[@chugwaterjack4458]

@@Longlius Yes, it suggests that Mr. Murphy was the Chief Engineer.

[@johnbeaulieu2404]

She had two tugs to get away from her berth and she did drop her port anchor. I agree with you about the tugs should have been required until clear of the bridge. That didn't happen likely due to cost and Port Authorities not requiring them. One thing you only mentioned briefly is rudder effectiveness as speed drops. Sal Mercagliano (What's Going On With Shipping) and John Konrad (gCaptain) both former Mariners who also have done videos about this accident mentioned one additional factor that you did not cover, it would affect the turning of the ship to starboard. If the ship's main engine were put in reverse to try and stop the ship, the propeller will "Walk" the stern to Port. And as way comes off the ship the rudder will become less and less effective and will not be able to counteract this force.

[@cliffbonds1472]

As soon as I heard about this catastrophe I Immediately look for Oceanliner Designs, I knew Mike would have the best and most accurate coverage of this ongoing disaster.

[@emmbrown1999]

love your insights, knowledge & polished yet engaging presentations Mike, once a crew member a long time ago & fellow proud Melbournian !

[@keeperofthecheese]

That bridge was pretty fragile, it absolutely needed more protection for the piles.

[@phillipgathright8001]

Considering that it was built in the 1970s, it was probably past due for upgrades.

[@hwirtwirt4500]

@@phillipgathright8001 Built in the 70's makes it a relatively new bridge.

[@kcgunesq]

The ship and cargo weighed something like 500 million pounds.I'm not sure there is any bridge in the world that can withstand being hit by half a billion pounds at 9 miles per hour.

[@keeperofthecheese]

@@kcgunesq i mean, the piles did survive. Just add big concrete piles further away from the bridge.

[@phillipgathright8001]

@@hwirtwirt4500 Having also been made in the 1970s, I beg to differ. Also, cargo ships have gotten much bigger in the 50ish years since then, and an upgraded bridge would have been fitted with buffers around the pilings to avoid direct impacts.

[@mrtytanic7587]

Hey there Mike, I live in Baltimore and I never would have expected so much attention on our city. What happened was tragic and I appreciate your coverage of this unfortunate event. Thank you!

[@jendoe9436]

Yesterday morning I was chatting with my co-worker about a couple of car accidents adding about 20 minutes to my commute. He quipped, “At least you weren’t driving across a bridge that fell.” I had no idea what he was talking about until he pulled up an article and we scanned the initial reporting. Having started watching this channel in the last few months, I immediately wondered if you would cover this and am glad to see you have. My initial worry was for the bridge traffic and the ship workers, though it’s been lessened by reports that law enforcement managed to stop ongoing bridge traffic and the ship workers were inside when everything fell. I am saddened to hear there are 6 casualties so far, but hopefully that number doesn’t increase. Sure does put a lot of burden on commuters and other ships though. Won’t be surprised if the next few months are absolute headaches for everyone.

[@poissonCHA1]

Measuring in 'Titanics' for the viewers at home, is so clever, even if none of us has ever seen the ship irl, it does transfer a sense of scale! thank you for the video Mike Brady! very informative and very very appreciated

[@SolidAvenger1290]

As a Marylander, thank you for covering this tragic event, Mike Brady. I have to update everyone that 6 people are presumed deceased from the bridge. Construction workers had lunch breaks inside their vehicles when the bridge collapsed into the river. This was such a horrible event to witness. I sincerely pray for the victim's families during this very difficult time. We are thankful that it wasn't at the levels of the 1980 Skybridge and 1975 Tasman disasters

[@bigbossimmotal]

YES PLEASE! Though I love your historic content, throwing in some current events is very much appreciated. Thank You!

[@Straswa]

Great work Oceanliner Designs. Thanks for the video.