Container Ship Struck Key Bridge in Baltimore, Bridge has Collapsed

[Capt_BJ]

I was stationed in Tampa, on a cutter, when the Skyway was knocked down. If memory serves the ship channel reopened with WEEKS .... Tampa was a larger cargo port back then as the phosphate industry was still in high gear.

[OnTheJourney]

48 minutes ago, Etta1213 said:

What hurts my heart are the families whose men are lost/trapped in under water graves, with no timelines for closure. Such horror for loved ones. Everything else pales in comparison.💞

Absolutely. Nothing can bring back lost lives. Bridges can be rebuilt.

[Pratique]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

The ship isn't stuck in this case though. It really won't take that long to remove the debris from the ship and begin demo of the bridge. The questions are when are they allowed to start and when can they actually start, meaning having the right equipment on scene.

Press conference with the Coast Guard suggests that it is sitting on the bridge pier and that the bow is resting on the bottom. The salvage company will be tasked with removing the ship after the Army Corps of Engineers removes the bridge from the ship.

[SakeDad]

3 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

I don’t think they would?

They would.

[smokeybandit]

8 minutes ago, Pratique said:

Press conference with the Coast Guard suggests that it is sitting on the bridge pier and that the bow is resting on the bottom. The salvage company will be tasked with removing the ship after the Army Corps of Engineers removes the bridge from the ship.

Water isn't that deep there, so no surprise the bow is on the bottom.  I'd imagine they'd have to offload the containers before trying to move it anyway, so it shouldn't take much to refloat it back into the channel.

[Pratique]

5 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Water isn't that deep there, so no surprise the bow is on the bottom.  I'd imagine they'd have to offload the containers before trying to move it anyway, so it shouldn't take much to refloat it back into the channel.

We really don't know how entangled it is with the bridge pier.

[smokeybandit]

8 minutes ago, Pratique said:

We really don't know how entangled it is with the bridge pier.

Not an easy clean up, but it doesn't look too bad based on drone video

 

 

[shipgeeks]

1 hour ago, OnTheJourney said:

Absolutely. Nothing can bring back lost lives. Bridges can be rebuilt.

And cruises rebooked.

[SilkySal]

29 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Not an easy clean up, but it doesn't look too bad based on drone video

I may be alone in my thinking but it looks pretty awful to me.

[BND]

53 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Water isn't that deep there, so no surprise the bow is on the bottom.  I'd imagine they'd have to offload the containers before trying to move it anyway, so it shouldn't take much to refloat it back into the channel.

Yesterday on the news, they interviewed someone with knowledge of the depth (gov official) and he said it's 50 ft in the channel under the bridge.  

[Jenna1983]

DHL executive comment

[Pratique]

7 minutes ago, SilkySal said:

I may be alone in my thinking but it looks pretty awful to me.

Optimistically if they can simply lift the bridge off of the ship with a crane and then refloat the ship, it may not be too bad. The Coast Guard said that there is no flooding of the ship below the waterline, which sounds good. But above the waterline it is a tangled mess and the Coast Guard did not indicate the extent of it yet other than to say that the ship is on the pier and the riverbed. It will be an interesting salvage operation.

[smokeybandit]

2 minutes ago, BND said:

Yesterday on the news, they interviewed someone with knowledge of the depth (gov official) and he said it's 50 ft in the channel under the bridge.  

Under the bridge yes, but there at the collision site less than 40.

[smokeybandit]

1 minute ago, Pratique said:

But above the waterline it is a tangled mess and the

From the drone video, there's a gigantic chunk out of the starboard bow, but still well above the water line.

[Engineroom Snipe]

The harbor is going to take at least three months to clear with the most optimistic of projections. I am in agreement with @chengkp75.

 

The contracts have to be defined.

 

The resources needed to clear the harbor must be relocated.

 

The resources of the Armed Services cannot be utilized in most cases without an act of war.

 

The military is not allowed to compete with the private sector in most cases so "bringing in resources from Norfolk from the military is a remote possibility unless sanctioned by Congress."

 

Calculate the amount of tonnage in the water that needs to be cut, lifted, and barged to shore.

 

What happens when it gets to shore?

 

It has to be trucked for salvage or recycle.

 

Each truck might be able to handle 60,000 lbs.

 

Go back to line four, how much tonnage must be removed?

 

When all of this is competed, how much time will it take to complete a precise, meticulous sweep of the channel to ensure that no debris is left behind?

 

Even when the channel is clear, ship traffic will have to coordinate with the effort to clear the remaining bridge materials to facilitate an ultimate rebuilding of the bridge.

 

There are SO many moving parts to this equation.

 

I can bet my house against having all of the above done before June 1st, 2024.

 

The Vision will need other alternatives at that point.

 

Done of lecture and I hope I am wrong and everyone can go back to normal in the Port of Baltimore upon the date of June 1st, 2024.

[Pratique]

7 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

From the drone video, there's a gigantic chunk out of the starboard bow, but still well above the water line.

I'm not in disagreement with you other than your statement that the ship is not stuck.

[smokeybandit]

3 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

What happens when it gets to shore?

 

As long as it's safely out of the channel, that's a problem for a different day as far as reopening the channel goes.

[Engineroom Snipe]

10 minutes ago, Jenna1983 said:

DHL executive comment

"...or something like that is what I'm hearing,..."

 

Who is telling this person that above?

[BND]

10 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Under the bridge yes, but there at the collision site less than 40.

That's what I said.  

[Another_Critic]

5 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

I can bet my house against having all of the above done before June 1st, 2024.

 

Hopefully you only bet the birdhouse.

[Jenna1983]

1 minute ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

"...or something like that is what I'm hearing,..."

 

Who is telling this person that above?

Bloomberg paywall article 

[Engineroom Snipe]

1 minute ago, smokeybandit said:

As long as it's safely out of the channel, that's a problem for a different day as far as reopening the channel goes.

The garbage pale can only handle so much before it is full.

 

The debris is off-loaded from the barge and the piles can only get so big before there is no space left.

 

Space is limited and this is part of being a contractor during demolition.

 

Such minutia must be calculated and written into the contract.

[Engineroom Snipe]

1 minute ago, Jenna1983 said:

Bloomberg paywall article 

 

But who is the source, the actual person providing this expert opinion?

 

[Lane Hog]

Biden has already declared this a Federal responsibility.  Competing with private industry might not be a concern -- the Corps of Engineers does the planning, not the work. 

This won't be a case of lowest bidder.  It will be a case of who can be onsite first with the right equipment.

The only matter right now for private industry is how much of a premium they can extract. 

I'm there with the three month estimate.  

 

[Engineroom Snipe]

2 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Hopefully you only bet the birdhouse.

Unlike One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), I do not live in a birdhouse.

 

As I always say, time will tell, 65 days and counting.