@Chiza : I suspected it was a power thing since I knew pilots would be insuring that they missed the bridge supports otherwise. Thanks for sharing the link.
I've driven over that bridge many times, including in the dark. Drivers would not have a chance to react or even stop the way that metal twisted. I am a retired structural engineer. I didn't design bridges except in school, but there are so many safeguards built in. I guess the design catastrophic event should have been hitting the support pier with a huge cargo ship. Probably wasn't designed for that. May not have even had container ships that big when bridge was designed. A lot of attention on bridge design is on underwater support, wind, loading on the bridge, vibration and oscillation.
I'm glad the containers didn't slide off into the water. Who knows what's in all those!

@Chiza : This is huge and terrifying.

And you think that you are having a bad day till you see this and think damn I'm glad I wasn't the Capt of this vessel but from what I heard, the vessel lost power till right at the last second and then went into full Reverse and tried dropping all anchors but at 9 knots and that size, this accident was unavoidable.

There's going to be so much speculation out there for a while @TexasTideFan....as someone that works in the industry and on the vessels....I know to wait until the USCG investigation report comes out to "pass" the blame. There are so many factors most will never understand. My heart breaks for the loss of life...and I pray for those involved.

Very interesting way to look at things too @Wiseowl....you really wonder if they did take vessel traffic into consideration when building the bridges over massive waterways. It's heartbreaking nonetheless. I'm glad the containers didn't break off too....and it doesn't appear to have breached the hull either. As someone that has had close calls with things on the water...nothing like this...it's a whole different ball game. Praying for all those involved.

It really is @cbear...

@Chiza : It will be more difficult unless we can dredge these channels more in order to accommodate these new larger vessels. We now have the new Panamax vessels with even larger capacity than that Maersk vessel.

They are already dredging for them in our major ports @olemiss1968....Houston is doing it now. Hence the new "ship channel bridge" or as we call it "$2 bridge"....but yes, you are right. There are only 2-3 bridges (depending how far up you go) on the HSC you have to navigate...other areas are much different.

@Chiza : Absolutely right. My concern would be with the Port of New Orleans. Our vessels at times have to bypass the port based on the draft restrictions. This was not the case in Baltimore but many people don't realize the details involved and the fact that the Port of Houston is one of the largest in the U.S. and vital to our economy.

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I'm glad it doesn't appear to be a terrorist issue so far. I'm sure there's a manifest or consist of what's in those containers and where they are located on the ship.

It is a major heartbeat of our economy @olemiss1968. Port of New Orleans is a bit different with dredging bc of the river and the natural flow. Not that it can't be done....but because of how the river flows. But I understand completely draft restrictions. All of it is so fascinating to me...just wish we could always be safe and catastrophes like this wouldn't happen. 😞

@Chiza : So as a Capt of the tug you operate, what is the protocol when you lose power? It is clearly evident that this vessel lost power twice before it hit the bridge.

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@TexasTideFan : Get on CH16 and call for help.