Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Baltimore/Dali update

The Daily Wire has an article that says:

  • At least 8 people were on the bridge at the time of collapse.
  • 2 of the 8 have been found. One is uninjured; the other was taken to hospital.
  • Preliminary investigations point to an accident, not terrorism or other malicious action.
  • The ship's crew issued a mayday, re: power problems, before the crash.
  • The mayday probably saved lives as authorities were able to restrict bridge traffic.
  • There were contractors on the bridge, so the number of casualties may be higher.
  • The ship has the flag of Singapore, but is chartered by Maersk.
  • The ship was not being piloted by its own crew at the time of the crash.
  • It is customary for a local crew to pilot a ship out of local waters.
  • The ship had been heading for Sri Lanka.

My takeaway from this is that things could have been a lot worse. The bridge's collapse is dramatic, but loss of life will, in the end, not be too high. That said, it's a tragedy for the people who were killed, not to mention for the families of all who were injured or killed.

This wasn't mentioned in the article, but I saw it as a rumor, if you will, in the comment threads at Instapundit: the ship had been experiencing power-related problems from the moment it left port. Curious.



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