Jump to content

Francis Scott Key Bridge Baltimore, Md


Recommended Posts

I wonder why there weren't any tugs attached to it or near it in order to assist it during transit? I'm pretty sure that oil, chemical tankers coming in to the port of Houston have to have at least 2 tugs during it's travel up the ship channel, other ships don't require any until docking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

News says there was a construction crew working on the bridge, if you look closely at the last video you can see the flashing lights just right of the middle portion of the bridge. Flashing lights were probably for a lane closure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Automakers General Motors and Ford will reroute shipments heading toward the Port of Baltimore as a result of the bridge collapse, according to multiple reports. 

The port is recognized as the most prominent port in the country dedicated to auto shipping. Last year, 847,158 cars and light trucks were shipped through the port, setting a record for the 13th straight year, Maryland Governor Wes Moore (D) said in a February press release."

"We expect the situation to have minimal impact to our operations. We are working to re-route any vehicle shipments to other ports," GM said, according to Reuters.

Similarly, Ford Chief Financial Officer John Lawler told Bloomberg TV that the collapse would also impact Ford operations.

"We'll have to divert parts to other ports... It will probably lengthen the supply chain a bit," Lawler said. Ford has “already secured shipping alternatives," the company confirmed to Reuters.

Moreover, Stellantis, the company that owns Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram, is pushing for “an uninterrupted flow of vehicles” as a result of the incident, according to The New York Times.

Some automakers — including Toyota, Volkswagen Group of America, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo Group — stated that they do not expect to face significant issues in the aftermath of the collapse for various reasons, according to Reuters. 

According to The New York Times, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW also use the port. 

“The path to normalcy will not be easy,” Pete Buttigieg, the U.S. transportation secretary, said on the topic of rerouting, according to The New York Times. “It will not be quick, and it will not be inexpensive.”

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/baltimore-bridge-collapses-ship-crash-live-updates_n_6602c0dfe4b07e12857811fb

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I Am Not A Lawyer, but I believe that this allision (only one of the parties was moving) is under Admiralty law. Which means, as best I understand it, that the best which Baltimore and the families of the men killed on the bridge can hope for in the way of a settlement is for the ship owners to hand them the keys to the MV Dali as is, where is. Under Admiralty law people are never at fault, only ships, and the liability is limited to the value of the ship at fault, the ship's owner can't be touched.

It should go without saying that Admiralty law was created by shipowners, for shipowners...

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, ehbowen said:

I Am Not A Lawyer, but I believe that this allision (only one of the parties was moving) is under Admiralty law. Which means, as best I understand it, that the best which Baltimore and the families of the men killed on the bridge can hope for in the way of a settlement is for the ship owners to hand them the keys to the MV Dali as is, where is. Under Admiralty law people are never at fault, only ships, and the liability is limited to the value of the ship at fault, the ship's owner can't be touched.

It should go without saying that Admiralty law was created by shipowners, for shipowners...

Biden already said the federal government was going to rebuild the bridge.  I read somewhere that the cost of a similar bridge was $5B.  I also read that the max insurance coverage on the MV Dali was $3B.

As far as the construction workers, why were they not removed from the bridge?  If the ship issued a Mayday with enough time for vehicles to be blocked from entering the bridge you would think there was enough time to get a message to those poor construction workers to get the heck out of dodge.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, steve1363 said:

As far as the construction workers, why were they not removed from the bridge?  If the ship issued a Mayday with enough time for vehicles to be blocked from entering the bridge you would think there was enough time to get a message to those poor construction workers to get the heck out of dodge.

I don't know. Maybe there was no vehicle handy to remove them; maybe they just didn't get the word passed to them in time. There's going to be an investigation; that's for certain, and until that report comes out any finger-pointing is premature.

This is premature, as well, but I saw a posting made by a Captain of a similar class vessel who believes that the initial power loss was due to contamination in the Diesel fuel from shifting fuel tanks at an inopportune time. Following that, the emergency generator started and the lights came back on. That would have given enough power for the rudder but NOT for the (very, very power hungry) bow thrusters. If the Captain reflexively grabbed the bow thruster control to attempt to dodge the bridge piling (highly likely, and if so it will be on the 'black box' event recorder), he would have tripped the emergency generator on overload, leaving the ship completely without power. Again, this is premature, but it looks like the most probable scenario I've seen.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The owner of the ship that crashed into the Baltimore bridge faces a mountain of potential lawsuits.

Experts say the owner will likely try to invoke an 1851 law to try to cap potential damages.

The Limitation of Liability Act was successfully used by the Titanic owner after the 1912 sinking.

From potential wrongful death lawsuits to property damage lawsuits, the owner of the container ship that crashed into a major Baltimore bridge, destroying it, can expect to face a mountain of legal troubles.

Analysts have already estimated that claims from the deadly early Tuesday disaster that caused Maryland's Francis Scott Key Bridge to abruptly collapse could cost insurers billions of dollars.

Three maritime legal experts told Business Insider that the owner of the Singapore-flagged vessel called the Dali will almost certainly invoke a 19th-century federal law — that was successfully used by the owner of the Titanic— to try to limit its liability in the bevy of lawsuits that are expected to arise.

"If they're fully successful, it will cap how much they have to pay in damages," Michael Sturley, an expert in maritime law and professor at the University of Texas at Austin's School of Law, told BI.

Grace Ocean Private Ltd, the owner of the 95,000-ton Dali ship that was bound for Sri Lanka before smashing into one of the bridge's support pillars, has about six months to file a petition in federal court under the 1851 Limitation of Liability Act.

Grace Ocean Private Ltd did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider on Thursday.

"The chances of their filing a limitation action are somewhere north of 99.99%," Sturley said.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/owner-ship-crashed-baltimore-bridge-201630179.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Brooklyn173 said:

Regarding tug boats...

https://apnews.com/article/maryland-bridge-collapse-shipping-tugboats-baltimore-cargo-33e1b42c7e0cd9a558d3732ffdaa6220

Could tugboats have helped avert the bridge collapse tragedy in Baltimore?

If the Federal government is going to give a blank check to ports to rebuild after disasters like this then I suspect more regulations are coming. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

check out the "what's Up With Shipping" youtube channel for more info.

We need a Minorcan Mullet type youtube channel to cover the removal of the bridge wreck, like the Mullet's captain covered that ship that rolled over in his area...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I was working at a shipyard early one winter morning right before work started a very strong cold front moved in. It had extremely strong winds associated with it and broke the moorings line to a car carrier ship. First the bow lines broke and the wind swung the ship around until the aft mooring lines broke. 2 tugs and a small push boat rushed to pin it against the dry dock at Newpark Shipbuilding. If those tugs hadn't been close by I thought it was going to hit the bridge beams on the south bank. They jut out at about a 40 degree angle over the water to support the bridge.

ye2S3Cl.png

byOJY3x.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...