Turbulent waters may have contributed to Mexican tall ship's crash into Brooklyn Bridge

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 11:23 PM EDT, May 18, 2025


When a Mexican navy tall ship crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge, it was maneuvering in turbulent waters. The tide had just turned, and a fast current was heading up the East River as a 10 mph wind set in.

While such hazards are easily handled by an experienced captain, mistakes can be costly in the heavily transited New York harbor, where narrow, curvy channels, winds howling off the jagged Manhattan skyline and whirlpool-like eddies can combine to make for difficult passage.

In the case of the 300-foot (90-meter) Cuauhtemoc, two sailors were killed and 19 were injured Saturday evening when the training ship struck the iconic bridge, toppling the vessel’s three masts like dominoes as it drifted toward a crowded pier. It’s unknown what caused the collision, and an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board is likely to take months.

But footage of the collision shot by horrified onlookers show the ship hurtling into the bridge in reverse at full speed, suggesting the captain lost control of the engine. There are also questions about whether a tugboat escort peeled away too soon and should have been rigged to the ship or stayed with it until it headed out to sea. Similar tugboat concerns emerged when a large cargo vessel crashed into a bridge in Baltimore last year.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/brooklyn-bridge-collision-mexican-navy-ship-6ef40ec8f9504f5ca18241eb79d197cc

[appmanga]

1. The East River is actually a "strait"...

...a body of water whose flow changes, as opposed to a river, which generally flows in a single direction. The East River and the Hudson can be very challenging to navigate.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. I remember back in elementary school

learning all those terms...

My issue with this situation is that there was something that looked like a tug or some kind of small escort ship, that was traveling right alongside the tall ship but didn't seem to do anything.

When any tall ships are out and about and particularly near these older bridges, I would think there would be some kind of monitoring.

Because of the rain storm (which I expect NY got not long after we had them here as the system moved to the NE of here in Philly) they had to cancel the last day of the Stokesbury Regatta on the Schuylkill River here because of the currents and water turbidity due to an increased flow coming from upstream. So I can imagine similar up there.

[PJMcK]

5. Please see my post #3

The single tug would not have been enough to control the 300-foot vessel. They would have had to have 2 or 3 tugs with a coordinated plan to maneuver the ship.

Very sad episode.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. I read it

and I also know the Mexican ship indicated that they lost power (which might have also impacted communications) but whatever was escorting it could have (or may have) alerted others in the area...

Here in Philly, both our rivers - the Delaware and Schuylkill (the southern part of it when it is in the city) are tidal. As I noted upthread, we had a regatta here on the smaller Schuylkill and they cancelled the final day due to the currents issue and knowing that same storm was up there, they could have delayed it.

I used to work in a federal building near the Delaware river and could watch all the container ships going up and down it with tugs pushing/pulling/guiding. There are tugs that are pretty powerful out there. We had the "Marco Polo" container ship pull into Philly's port last year and that is 4 times the size (1300 ft long) and had 4 tugs on it -



Agree that this was tragic.

[PJMcK]

3. Both the East River and parts of the Hudson are affected by the tides

The current in the East River can exceed 5 knots (6-7 mph). For many vessels, this makes the "river" very difficult to navigate as the strong currents rush through an extremely narrow and winding channel between Hell Gate in the north to the Battery in the south. In olden times, there were many capsizes and deaths along the East River because the channel is so dangerous.

Likewise, the Hudson River has strong tidal currents that alternate four times a day, like the East River. Although not as fierce as the East River, the Hudson can flow upwards of 4 knots making it difficult to navigate against the current.

Motor vessels with sufficient power can sail against these currents but the powerful force of the water must still be taken into account by an experienced navigator. Sailing vessels, for the most part, must time their transits of these waters to maneuver with the tidal currents in order to maintain steerage, that is, the ability to control and handle the vessel.

I've traversed both rivers numerous times and I've almost always carefully planned the passages by consulting the tidal and current charts found in the annual publication Eldridge which shows the times of the tide changes as well as the expected currents throughout the tidal cycles. There are also several excellent electronic navigation devices that provide this information in real time. In spite of this planning, there are still difficulties, especially in the East River. For example, just north of the Queensboro Bridge at 59th Street, there are consistent standing waves of 2-4 feet during both the Flood Tide and the Ebb Tide that bounce boats around as they pass the area.

My sailboat has a Diesel inboard and it will power the boat with full throttle at just over 5 knots. I will never go against the East River current and on those occasions I've sailed against the Hudson's current it resulted in very slow passages. After all, if the current is 4 knots and I'm making 5 knots through the water, I'm only going 1 knot over the ground! This is almost the minimum speed to maintain steerage on my boat.

From the videos and accounts I've seen of the accident involving the Mexican vessel, the Cuauhtémoc, it appears that they undocked from Pier 17 and a tug boat was pushing the ship's bow to face south to head to the Atlantic Ocean. Apparently, the ship lost engine power (a 1,125 hp auxiliary engine) and the current (and wind) began pushing the ship north meaning that the ship was going backwards. This all happened so fast over such a short distance, less than a half-mile, that without functioning engine power, the ship didn't have a chance.

My only humble observation is that the ship might have timed its departure during the outgoing tide so it wouldn't be fighting the northwards current but would be pushed south towards the ocean. I wasn't there so I have no criticisms of the captain or the crew.

One commentator suggested that the tug could have saved the ship from the tragedy, This is a profoundly ignorant observation. Consider that the Cuauhtémoc is 300-feet long displacing 1,800 tons. A single tug, without control or tow lines connecting the two vessels, could never push the ship out of danger. It would take a coordinated effort by 2 or 3 tugs to properly escort the ship to safety.

This tragedy is very sad. Two sailors lost their lives. Many were injured, some severely. A beautiful sailing vessel was massively damaged with repairs probably in the millions. The ship's goodwill mission has ended. I'm curious where they will tow the ship for repairs as I'm unaware of a shipyard in the area that could handle it, (I'm sure there is a yard but I don't know where it might be).

This was a horrible accident and the investigations will provide more detailed information. It's a very sad event.

[Prairie Gates]

4. "In olden times" !!

Love that!

[IbogaProject]

7. Hart point up where the Long Island Sound begins is among the most dangerous worldwide

The Hudson flows both ways too with a strong tidal movement that goes all the way north to just short of Albany.

The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary or strait in New York City. The waterway, which is not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end.

My Dad applied to the Maritime Academy before going elsewhere. While we never lived in NYC he warned me specifically of the East River, The Hudson and the Delaware Rivers all being particularly dangerous to swim in or operate pleasure craft on and how the East River was super risky.

The river is a tidal strait, and its currents are particularly strong in areas like Hell Gate