Turbulent waters may have contributed to Mexican tall ship’s crash into Brooklyn Bridge that killed 2 sailors

AP When a Mexican navy tall ship crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge it was maneuvering in turbulent waters The tide had just turned and a fast current was heading up the East River as a mph wind set in While such hazards are easily handled by an experienced captain mistakes can be costly in the heavily transited New York harbor where narrow curvy channels winds howling off the jagged Manhattan skyline and whirlpool-like eddies can combine to make for arduous passage In the circumstance of the -foot -meter Cuauhtemoc two sailors were killed and were injured Saturday evening when the training ship struck the iconic bridge toppling the vessel s three masts like dominoes as it drifted toward a crowded pier It s unknown what caused the collision and an analysis by the National Transportation Safety Board is likely to take months But footage of the collision shot by horrified onlookers show the ship hurtling into the bridge in reverse at full speed suggesting the captain lost control of the engine There are also questions about whether a tugboat escort peeled away too soon and should have been rigged to the ship or stayed with it until it headed out to sea Similar tugboat concerns emerged when a large cargo vessel crashed into a bridge in Baltimore last year Sal Mercogliano a former merchant mariner who has powered multiple ships through the New York harbor announced all those worst-case scenarios the ship s height a strong current heavy wind and the absence of a more controlled tugboat escort all contributed to the tragedy The prudent thing would ve been to leave two hours earlier when the tide was going out That would ve been the ideal time stated Mercogliano who writes a widely followed shipping blog But I don t think they ever envisioned that their engine would ve propelled them into the bridge Still he commented an even deadlier catastrophe was avoided by the ship s steel rigging which prevented the masts from falling into the water as well as the fact that the crew stayed harnessed in position rather than taking the threat that particular members could tumble from a -story height as they scrambled down the rat lines You could have had guys strapped in drowning in the river he announced This could have been a lot worse Mexican personnel informed the family of Am rica Yamilet S nchez that the -year-old sailor died after falling from one of the Cuauhtemoc s masts her aunt Mar a del Rosario Hern ndez Jacome commented Sunday at the family s home in Xalapa in the Mexican state of Veracruz Earlier in the day Saturday S nchez who was studying engineering at the Mexican naval academy had spoken with her mother and excitedly described her that the ship s next stop would be Iceland Her parents traveled to Mexico City on Sunday to arrange for the return of their daughter s body Hern ndez mentioned Relatives and friends arrived at the family s home carrying flowers A small altar was set up on the patio with a photograph of S nchez and candles Ship was on a goodwill tour The Cuauhtemoc visited New York as part of a -nation global goodwill tour and was departing when it struck the bridge at around p m briefly halting traffic atop the span Mayor Eric Adams reported the -year-old bridge escaped major damage but at least of the sailors aboard the ship needed biological healing Two of the four people who suffered serious injuries later died The Cuauhtemoc sailed for the first time in It is almost feet long and its main mast has a height of feet meters about feet meters higher than the span of the Brooklyn Bridge The vessel which arrived in New York on May backed out from the tourist-heavy South Street Seaport where it had been docked for several days welcoming visitors It s unknown if the Mexican captain requested a dock pilot to assist with the unmooring but a harbor pilot was on board to sail it through the harbor as required Tracking content from Marine Traffic and eyewitness videos show that an -horsepower tugboat the Charles D McAllister gently nudged the vessel as it backed astern into the channel but dropped off before the vessel turned Seconds later as the ship continued drifting in the wrong direction the tugboat tried to overtake the vessel but arrived too late to wedge itself between the fast-moving ship and the Brooklyn riverbank McAllister Towing the company that would have operated the tug and been responsible for any docking pilot aboard declined to comment Following last year s crash in Baltimore Mercogliano revealed port personnel there tightened rules to require a tug escort and slower speeds for vessels sailing through the harbor entrance past the partially collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge The ship in that crash the MV Dali was a -ton container ship about times heavier than the Cuauhtemoc Certain vessels avoid harbor because of low bridges Accidents in New York harbor are rare because large cargo ships and modern warships generally avoid the area due to the low height of the bridges But in July the harbor is expected to play host to the largest-ever flotilla of tall ships from around the world to celebrate the th anniversary of the founding of the United States Mercogliano stated investigators will evaluate whether the Mexican crew performed the recommended safety checks prior to their departure Typically that involves testing the engine s propellers rudder and propulsion six to hours in advance to make sure everything is working properly and nothing is left to chance It s not like your car where you re just throwing your shifter he declared On Sunday the damaged ship was moored at Pier in lower Manhattan A stream of people including those who appeared to be investigators and crew could be seeing getting on and off the vessel The Coast Guard stated damage to the Cuauht moc was being assessed The Coast Guard established a -yard -meter safety zone around the ship as the probe by both the U S and Mexican governments got underway Sen Chuck Schumer a New York Democrat and the Senate minority leader stated any research should look into whether the Trump administration s federal hiring freeze affected the U S Coast Guard s staffing levels safety procedures and accident-response readiness After being fully briefed on last night s Brooklyn Bridge accident one thing is predominantly clear There are more questions than answers as it relates to exactly how this accident occurred Schumer mentioned