Mexican tall ship appears to make sternway under power

[Christian Williams]

Link

(The link is to Twitter X, a very annoying platform)

 

[bgary]

Very sad. I will be interested to see what the investigation turns up.

Like you, it seemed pretty clear to me that it was under power astern. (although, truth be told, because of the perfect angle, the dramatic lighting and reflections, and the random site where I first saw the video posted... my first thought that it was an AI video.)

 

[southofvictor]

Looks like a tug was arriving but not in time to keep them from going under the bridge. maybe positioning to keep them off the wall? Everything must have happened relatively quickly once they lost power. No anchor deployed. Can you effectively anchor in the East River anyway?

 

[peaman]

Can you effectively anchor in the East River anyway?

Under those conditions, I cannot imagine. The ship gained speed quickly, and the current was very strong. There would have been no time or scope for the anchor to set before the "allision".

 

[Mblace]

From what I have heard and seen I have a few observations... They were early in the summer training cruise, but since they were maneuvering on the engine, and sails were furled and cadets were aloft manning the yards, an inexperienced cadet crew wouldn't have any impact - the Captain and bridge crew were experienced mariners. Pilot aboard. Tug alongside was probably tied aft initially backing out but had to move forward to assist the pivot to turn into the channel (tall ships have awful maneuverability near the dock). At that point I can't see how a single tug could have done much - with the wind and proximity to the bridge I think a second tug would have made a difference. Anchor detail was probably manned but by the time they realized they were out of control probably didn't have time to let go, and may have hesitated due to underwater infrastructure issues. The ship (from what I understand) has a single diesel-powered Controllable Pitch Prop - hydraulically controlled - typically very reliable. Winds were fairly strong at the time blowing directly upriver toward the bridge. Notice the huge Mexican flag on the mizzenmast out straight - I'd guess at least 15 kts gusts 20+. That's the main point - if the engine quit or CPP failed, the wind would have accelerated the ship toward the bridge very quickly - there's so much stuff aloft (masts, yards, rigging, furled sails) that I bet they'd easily go 3-5 kts downwind even without setting sail. Current was less than a knot, toward the bridge. Unfortunately, the masts and rigging are pretty fragile if you hit something, and half the cadets were aloft. That fragility at least meant no damage to the bridge, but lots of folks got hurt. We'll see what the NTSB says, but it looks like all the holes in the Swiss cheese aligned to make an otherwise challenging but manageable situation go totally wrong. I spent 4 months sailing Eagle as a cadet - including the Bermuda-Newport race for OPSAIL '76 with a bumper-car start - and can totally see this happening, mostly because these ships are a bitch to sail in close quarters. They look great and handle well under sail in open water, but are pigs otherwise.

 

[gareth harris]

The Cuauhtémoc was reportedly modelled on the Eagle so would have handled similarly. A newspaper article on the incident said that a similar tall ship on a past visit used four tugs for the same turn. Clearly the skipper of the Cuauhtémoc thought one to be sufficient in the conditions, and perhaps it would have been had the engine not been in reverse for so long, nonetheless the verdict of the article was that attaching a tug would have allowed for things to go wrong.

The incident gives me yet more respect for our ancestors who would have been pulling by oar in such conditions.

Gareth
Freyja E35 #241 1972