Originally Posted By BobP:

That make sense. I can't imagine anyone hitting the water and surviving.

For the conspiracy advocates, has anyone claimed responsibility? A planned attack which would bring down a bridge must have someone claiming responsibility?

Originally Posted By Lieh-tzu:

BLD?

Originally Posted By 9mmKrieger:

Lots of folks seem to have forgotten that hacking can affect control systems and machines in a manner that looks like a malfunction.

We did exactly that to Iran via Stuxnet over a decade ago.

A simple set of instructions can do that and even delete itself afterwards. It's tech that's trivial for nation state actors.

Look at the economic & other impacts for motive.

Originally Posted By AmericanPeople:


People may not have hit the water directly.  Some of the falling bridge spans would temper the impact force but it might still be enough to injure a person who if they then slid into the water would have a lowered chance of survival.  I would not want go through it.

Originally Posted By SamBoga:
Lara Logan goes full retard

Multiple intel sources: Baltimore bridge collapse was an “absolutely brilliant strategic attack” on US critical infrastructure - most likely cyber - & our intel agencies know it. In information warfare terms, they just divided the US along the Mason Dixon line exactly like the…

Lara Logan  (@laralogan) March 26, 2024

Originally Posted By MeInMediocrity:
I think I'll wait and see if she's full retard.  To me, with the very preliminary information released, it looks like an accident.  The Suez Canal "accident" didn't look like an accident at all.  So, if this does turn out to be intentional, she would be correct in it being brilliantly staged to look like an accident.

If you look at the map with the depth contours, it looks like a ship that size losing power and/or steering would easily run aground and get sideways in the channel.  Shipping would be disrupted for days or weeks, just like the Suez Canal incident.  No dick tracks on this incident, though.

I don't think a fancy cyber attack would be required.  Just time the equipment failure so the crew would not have any available options to stop a mishap.  Even if you manage to miss the bridge, without steering and propulsion, you would still likely run aground or run into a different obstacle.  If intentional, I don't think any of the crew would need to have any involvement for it to be successful.  However, I'm still leaning toward the accident theory until we have more information.

Originally Posted By USNGM2:
It's probably been answered but how long would it take to rebuild a bridge of that size? Seems like it's incredibly critical.

Originally Posted By NCshooter:
The left coast lifter is indeed in Staten Island and Alcheron has it for sale. When they brought to NY they renamed it "I Lift New York"
1929 ton lift capacity ,384 ft boom 484 ft long
Talk about clearing that channel

Originally Posted By macro:
If this were an attack, it would be an attack on China. Whose ships do you think enter that port? Every day that port is shut down is another day China doesn't get paid for its products. No...china didn't attack themselves.  

In the realm of probability, it is far more likely that this was a fuckup than it was deliberate.

My money is on poor vessel maintenance and Ill equipped staff.

Originally Posted By MFP_4073:
news from today's WSJ

----------------------------------------------------------

Key Baltimore Bridge Collapses After Being Hit by Cargo Ship, Six Missing

Singaporean ship lost propulsion before striking the Francis Scott Key Bridge over the frigid Patapsco River

Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key bridge collapsed, sending vehicles and people into the water, authorities said. Police said the case was being treated as a mass casualty incident. Photo: Julia Nikhinson/Reuters
By Costas Paris, Jon Kamp, Paul Kiernanand Gareth Vipers      Updated March 26, 2024 2:58 pm ET


BALTIMORE—A major Baltimore bridge collapsed Tuesday after a large containership plowed into it, prompting a search for six people and disrupting one of America’s busiest ports.

The Singaporean ship, called the Dali, lost propulsion as it was leaving a nearby port, according to an unclassified report from the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

The Dali struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, named after the poet whose lyrics became “The Star-Spangled Banner. The collapse severed a part of Interstate 695.

The impact appeared to be an accident after the crew warned authorities of a power issue on board, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said.

“This morning our state is in shock,” Moore said, while adding that the immediate focus was on search and rescue operations. Federal officials said there was no evidence of terrorism.

Officials said Tuesday that they were still searching for six people who were connected to a construction crew filling potholes when the ship struck the bridge, said Paul Wiedefeld, Maryland’s transportation secretary. One person had been rescued and is in the hospital, and another wasn’t hospitalized, he added.

Declaring the bridge collapse “a terrible accident,” President Biden said he intended for the federal government to pay the entire cost of reconstruction. “We’re not leaving until this job gets done,” he said, adding that he would travel to Baltimore soon.

How the ship crashed

The ship was moving around eight knots, according to authorities. The speed is typical for vessels traveling in the area.

The Singaporean containership, called the Dali, remained stuck under the bridge Tuesday morning with all crew still on board.

The Dali picked up its anchor and began to move at 12:28 a.m., according to Coast Guard officials. At 1:24 a.m., the vessel’s lights flickered on and off as it traveled, and then at 1:26 a.m., the ship began to change course. It struck the bridge at 1:27 a.m.     One official said the ship issued a mayday call shortly before it hit the bridge.

Video from the incident shows the ship slamming into one of the bridge’s support pillars and the structure completely collapsing into the Patapsco River. The governor said the ship’s warning helped officials stop cars from going over the bridge. He also said it would take a “long term build” to replace the bridge.

“The vessel notified MD Department of Transportation (MDOT) that they had lost control of the vessel and a collision with the bridge was possible,” CISA, the federal agency, said in its memo. “The vessel struck the bridge causing a complete collapse.”

There were 24 people on the ship: two pilots who are local mariners and 22 crew members from India, said Darrell Wilson, a spokesman for Synergy Marine Group, which manages the ship. He said he didn’t have any details on what caused the ship to crash. Wilson said he had no reports of the ship spilling fuel or oil.

One official said the ship issued a mayday call shortly before it hit the bridge.

The vessel had deployed its own emergency procedure and the crew had been checking for casualties in the water, Synergy said. All of the crew are safe, the company added. Danish container shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk said it had chartered the ship from Synergy.

The ship was on its way to Sri Lanka when it struck the bridge, and it remained stuck there.

Who was on the bridge

Jesus Campos, 48 years old, works for Brawner Builders, a construction company. Campos said his colleagues were repairing potholes on the bridge when the ship struck it. Campos said he wasn’t there at the time, but knows everyone who was on the bridge, including a worker who was rescued from the water. Campos said a colleague called at 5:40 a.m. to tell him the news of the ship striking the bridge.

He added it could have been him on that bridge.

“I felt sick when they showed me the video. It hurts,” Campos said, adding that he and some other co-workers have tried calling the phones of the missing workers, but no one has responded.

The Journal called Brawner seeking comment. A person who answered the phone didn’t immediately provide one. Brawner Builders has several active multimillion-dollar contracts with the state of Maryland, according to state records.

Multiple vehicles were on the bridge at the time of the collapse, Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace said. Authorities were using sonar and infrared technology to determine how many cars were in the water

The scene after the collapse

As daylight revealed the scale of the collapse, police closed roads leading up to the bridge while a parade of emergency response vehicles arrived at the scene. Among the vehicles was a truck from the nearby Kingsville Volunteer Fire Company towing two inflatable boats and a pickup truck from the Prince George’s County police emblazoned with the words “underwater recovery.”

The bridge is the entryway to the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore, the largest port in the U.S. for specialized cargo like trucks, tractors and trailers. It is also a gateway for bulk cargo like coal and petroleum products.

The bridge was last inspected in May 2021 and received a “fair” rating, according to federal data reviewed by The Journal. That means inspectors determined the bridge was essentially sound, but may have minor issues like cracks or some concrete erosion.

Some 800,000 vehicles passed through the port in 2023, moving three million tons of cargo. The collapse will have ripple effects on the port’s operations that could last for months, according to Coast Guard officials.

All vessel traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore is suspended until further notice, the port said Tuesday morning. The port is still processing trucks inside its terminals, the port said. Ports in Norfolk, Va., and the New York and New Jersey area are expected to pick up most of the diverted ship traffic.

Synergy said the two pilots were on the ship to steer it through the crossing. Pilots are active or former captains who work at ports and take over ships as they move in and out of ports.

“The pilots take over the ship because they know the port’s tight spots like the back of their hands,” said Ioannis Sgouras, a veteran Greek captain who has sailed to Baltimore many times in recent years.

The port administration says Baltimore is the biggest port on the East Coast for handling “ro-ro,” short for roll-on-roll off and encompassing cargoes of autos, trucks, tractors and wheeled cranes. Coal, liquefied-natural gas and waste paper have ranked among the top exports from the port in recent years, while vehicles, salt, gypsum and sugar have been the biggest imports.

Francis Scott Key Bridge, built in 1977, spanned a total of 1.6 miles, but the overall structure including its approaches covered almost 11 miles.

Alyssa Lukpat, Sabrina Siddiqui, C. Ryan Barber, Cameron McWhirter, Margot Patrick, Joe Wallace, Jack Gillum and Siobhan Hughes contributed to this article.

Write to Costas Paris at [email protected], Jon Kamp at [email protected], Paul Kiernan at [email protected] and Gareth Vipers at [email protected]

https://images.wsj.net/im-942262?width=600

https://images.wsj.net/im-942053?width=1260&size=1.5&pixel_ratio=1.5

https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/e93b7dbe-2ead-41c0-866a-cb405c26800d-KEYBRIDGECOLLAPSE-_700px.jpg

https://images.wsj.net/im-942055?width=1260&size=1.5&pixel_ratio=1.5


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Originally Posted By PetroAggie07:
Why are we paying for it? That’s what insurance is for.

Originally Posted By RSG:

Biden claims to have taken the TRAIN over the Francis Scott Key bridge!
Says he has been over the bridge "many many times commuting from the state of Delaware either by train or by car."

The bridge had only four lanes of traffic and no rail lines. pic.twitter.com/sB6Odzsr7i

— Brick Suit (@Brick_Suit) March 26, 2024

Originally Posted By JamesJones:

Some guys here say 5-7 years and 10 billion

I'm thinking 500 million and 2 years.

Originally Posted By madmacs69:

Very likely to be above the limits of the policy.

Originally Posted By SamBoga:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwgOHpZlxvc

Originally Posted By USNGM2:
It's probably been answered but how long would it take to rebuild a bridge of that size? Seems like it's incredibly critical.

Originally Posted By sledhead907:
Came in here to get news.

See conspiracy bullshit about the ship being hacked.

I’m not sure how some of you function in society.

Originally Posted By GhettoCowboy:
Remember the Sanibel Island Bridge from Hurricane Ian was going to take billion$ and years to replace? FDOT had it reopened to all traffic in less than a month.

If a good leader can remove the red tape and inspire the team shit gets done fast.

Originally Posted By GhettoCowboy:
Remember the Sanibel Island Bridge from Hurricane Ian was going to take billion$ and years to replace? FDOT had it reopened to all traffic in less than a month.

If a good leader can remove the red tape and inspire the team shit gets done fast.

Originally Posted By K5FAL:
The fringe right has always been susceptible to conspiracy theories but lately they seem to have captured a much larger portion of conservatism.

My theory is it’s because of the loss of Rush Limbaugh.  

The man was grounded and got the message out without the kook bullshit.  Now our side is getting their info from all over the place and a lot of these sources are sketchy as fuck.  Hence Putin is a good guy and everything else is a globohomo conspiracy.

Baltimore was most likely an accident.  They do happen.

Originally Posted By GhettoCowboy:
Remember the Sanibel Island Bridge from Hurricane Ian was going to take billion$ and years to replace? FDOT had it reopened to all traffic in less than a month.

If a good leader can remove the red tape and inspire the team shit gets done fast.

Originally Posted By realwar:
The new bridge will be a huge concrete span I bet.

Originally Posted By EastRiverSD:

I have no doubt democrats will write a bill for "bridge reconstruction" that will have 2 billion for a bridge, 100 billion for Ukraine, and amnesty for all illegals and will cry and cry and cry when the Rinos don't sign onto it immediately to help poor Baltimore rebuild. Which the Rinos will then most certainly cave.

Originally Posted By realwar:
Missed the bumper by about 20ft.

https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/03/2024-baltimore-major-bridge-baltimore-889711672_d25f04.jpg?w=1440

Originally Posted By PetroAggie07:
Why are we paying for it? That’s what insurance is for.

Originally Posted By blueballs:
Bitches

Love

Drama

Originally Posted By USNGM2:
It's probably been answered but how long would it take to rebuild a bridge of that size? Seems like it's incredibly critical.