A Mexican navy sailing ship on a global goodwill tour struck the Brooklyn Bridge in New York on Saturday, snapping its three masts, killing two crew members and leaving some sailors dangling from harnesses high in the air waiting for help.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the 142-year-old bridge was spared major damage but at least 19 people aboard the ship needed medical treatment.
Two of the four people who suffered serious injuries later died, Adams announced on social media early Sunday.
The cause of the collision was under investigation.
Did they go slow when they needed to go fast? Classic sailing mistake?
The sails were up. It was running on engines that some reports say began to fail. There are countless videos from multiple angles. Some are a hard watch.
There were many sailors atop the masts. The two tallest masts hit the bottom of the bridge and folded in half. The sailors were hanging from the sails and rigging as the ship approached the port.
They floated too high when they should have sunk into the water a bit to clear the bridge.
Funnily enough that’s what going fast does!
It pulls the boat into the water, hence my comment :)
I was just being a smartass, I didn’t know that was actually protocol to change speed
Wouldn’t this be totally dependent upon hull design? I don’t think tall ships are designed this way.
The masts were too tall for the bridge so it seems they didn’t intend to go towards the bridge, but the ship apparently lost power and drifted backwards under it.
If you go slow when you need to go fast you’re gonna have a bad time.