Radio calls asked tugs for help 45 seconds before Mexican ship hit Brooklyn Bridge, officials say

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 7:26 PM EDT, May 19, 2025


The Mexican navy tall ship that struck the Brooklyn Bridge was underway for less than 5 minutes before its masts crashed into the historic span, and radio calls indicating it was in distress went out only 45 seconds before the deadly collision, according to a timeline laid out by U.S. investigators Monday.

With the help of a tugboat, the Cuauhtemoc training vessel backed away from a Manhattan pier filled with cheering people at 8:20 p.m. on Saturday, officials said.

Videos showed the ship moving slowly at first, its rigging filled with white lights and naval cadets balanced high on the ship’s yards — the spars that hold the sails. The tugboat nudged the ship along, keeping it from drifting upstream toward the bridge in the current as it backed up into the East River toward Brooklyn.

But after a few minutes, the ship separated from the tug and picked up speed, still moving in reverse, heading for the bridge. Four minutes after the ship left the pier, a radio call went out asking for help from any additional tugboats in the area, followed by other requests for assistance, National Transportation Safety Board investigator Brian Young said at a media briefing Monday. Officials did not say whether those radio calls originated from the ship, the tug, or somewhere else.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/brooklyn-bridge-mexican-ship-crash-2cd92eb7cea17552d6c36be2916d2bbd

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. So it seems its engines had got stuck in reverse

Young described the conditions at the time as dusk, with westerly winds around 10 knots and a current of about 0.3 knots flowing toward the bridge. As the ship departed, its stern began to accelerate, reaching speeds up to six knots.

https://gothamist.com/news/feds-expected-to-provide-update-on-brooklyn-bridge-ship-strike

So there was a small current toward the bridge, but nearly all of its speed was through the water, and surely must have been mainly powered - if not by the time of impact, for a fair time shortly before. While a westerly wind would blow from Pier 17 to the Brooklyn Bridge, a wind of 10 knots wouldn't accelerate a ship that fast.

[TheRickles]

2. I thought the wind plus the current provided enough power to accelerate the boat at full sail.

Any evidence that engines were stuck in reverse?

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. There were no sails up; the ship was going backwards

If the wind was 10 knots, and the ship travelling at 6 knots, then the wind relative to the ship was only at 4 knots, with the ship at nearly 6 knots through the water. I don't see how a ship with no sails up could do that.

[TheRickles]

6. No sails up? I guess it's time for another theory....

Hopefully investigators will be able to determine whether the ship's engines stalled out, were stuck in reverse, or something else.

[kiri]

4. Coast Guard would have told him to wait an hour!

The ship's captain was derelict in not looking at tide and current charts----which showed this was the worst possible time to leave his dock.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. A current of 0.3 knots is not a problem

It's nothing compared to the ship's reverse speed through the water. This video:

(linked here: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220327620#post13 ) shows, at about 7 minutes in, that this was a couple of hours after low water. Waiting an hour would have meant a stronger incoming current, not a weaker one.

[PJMcK]

7. Thanks for this video!

The explanation is excellent and his factual discussion is clearly informed by knowledge and experience. I've bookmarked his YouTube channel for future reference.

If you're interested, I wrote a post the other day about my own experiences and thoughts on this tragedy:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220327620

It's such a sad story. Sailors died and were injured. The beautiful ship has been severely damaged. Their goodwill tour is over. Very unfortunate.

[kiri]

8. I was wrong

Thank you for providing the correct info. I clearly misunderstood the tidal current data.
I was surprised that the crippled ship did go under the Manhattan bridge for temporary repair.

Question remains: Why was the diesel engine in wrong mode?
Why didn't the ship move when the tidal current was outbound, away from the bridge?

{When I lived in northern NJ, I had a GF in Brooklyn, Park Slope. Took the Holland Tunnel, Canal St, the bridge many times.}

[EX500rider]

9. Stuck in reverse I understand...not being able to kill the engine I do not..

....also dropping both anchors and a hail to those aloft "Get on DECK NOW!!" would have been in order.
Now getting the anchors over in a hurry can be troublesome if they are secured for rough weather but worth a try and cut lines if you have too.
(I was a sail cadet on a Tall Ship for 3 years and have done a trans-Atlantic on one)

[BumRushDaShow]

10. If you look at that video analysis posted upthread

it is noted that with the engine going, the anchors wouldn't have helped and the crew standing on the yards were all strapped in harnesses and apparently trying to unbuckle from that would have actually caused more potential injuries.

Apparently the engines weren't responding to commands at some point (they were in reverse backing out of the dock but the gears apparently didn't engage to go forward once that maneuver was completed).

[EX500rider]

11. I understand stuck in reverse, I don't understand not being able to kill the engine

Diesels usually have an air inlet valve you can close that will shut her down, and even if the anchors dragged they might have slowed her down some to get more people on deck, and if the topmasts are going to hit a bridge, to hell with the harnesses unbuckle and scramble down. We never harnessed aloft and I've gone up in a force nine in the English Channel riding the gaff and I had to get over to the spreader arm and then back down to the deck.
I don't believe the court of inquiry is going to be very complimentary to the Command Decisions

[BumRushDaShow]

12. I remember the earliest report mentioned some kind of "power failure"

so it's possible there was some kind of blown relay and the engines didn't respond to commands.

One of the things mentioned about this ship too was that the masts were mostly steel (vs wood, although it was unknown if the very topmost parts might have been wood or not). So the masts actually didn't splinter apart and take down any other masts when they hit the underside of the bridge. I did see a couple other videos that showed crew that were dangling from their harnesses on the yards that they were originally standing on that were just below the broken ones.

Like that ship that hit the Key Bridge in Baltimore, it will be interesting to hear what the outcome is for this.

[EX500rider]

13. Large diesel can "runaway" so they will have a air inlet valve to close which will shut her down if she wants to or not.

Also some will have feathering props so they don't drag and try to spin the shaft while under sail alone.

Heck if my life depended on it I would unhook and slide down a halyard or backstay, something that has been done on Tall Ships forever. (obviously much less lately)
I always wore leather gloves aloft though which would help, but rope burns beat being dead.

[BumRushDaShow]

14. Well as I understand

this was a ship of cadets (although there were apparently some engine room personnel issues)... so.

[EX500rider]

15. I get that, I was a Sea Cadet for 3 years but if they are aloft they should have some sea time under their belts

And the order to get all hands on deck ASAP should have gone out as soon as she was out of control, although I don't understand why she didn't even go rudder hard over, aground is better then the outcome they had.

The fact that there are dead and injured sailors while in calm waters tell me big mistakes were made IMO

I was 1 year on the teQuest, now called Aquarius, a 173ft 3 masted staysail schooner, interestingly enough built in 1930 for the Roebling family who built the Brooklyn bridge.



And 2 years on the TeVega, a 156' 2 masted gaff rigged schooner:



And another couple years + on smaller sailboats (52') mostly in the Med

[BumRushDaShow]

16. There are a pile of tourist videos floating around

and some of them show people scrambling around the deck (going below and coming out).

I think they said there were over 200 crew on the ship so only 2 fatalities given the nature of the accident and so many who were on each yard, was fortunate.

Whenever the tall ships were in town here in Philly, I would always like to catch a glimpse because inevitably, all the "baby" guys (the smaller sailboats ) were out there too and you could really see the scope and scale of sailing ships.

[electric_blue68]

17. TY I &family saw Operation Sail back in '76. We lived relatively near the George Washington Bridge, and walked down....

to the base [which I'd done before]. The tall ships passed under it, and went a bit further up before heading back down to the Hudson Bay. A fabulous time.