Turbulent waters may have played role in Brooklyn Bridge tall ship crash

Sydney Morning Herald

19-05-2025

There are also questions about whether a tugboat escort peeled away too soon from the ship, 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.
Sal Mercogliano, a former merchant mariner who has powered multiple ships through the New York harbour, said all those 'worst-case scenarios' – the ship's height, a strong current, heavy wind and the absence of a more controlled tugboat escort – all contributed to the tragedy.
'The prudent thing would've been to leave two hours earlier, when the tide was going out. That would've been the ideal time,' Mercogliano, who writes a widely followed shipping blog, said. 'But I don't think they ever envisioned that their engine would've propelled them into the bridge.'
Still, he said an even deadlier catastrophe was avoided by the ship's steel rigging, which prevented the masts from falling into the water, as well as the fact that the crew stayed harnessed in position rather than taking the risk that some members could tumble from a 12-storey height as they scrambled down the rat lines.
'You could have had guys strapped in, drowning in the river,' he said. 'This could have been a lot worse.'
The family of 20-year-old cadet America Yamilet Sanchez were told she had died after falling from the mast, Sanchez's aunt Maria del Rosario Hernandez Jacome said.
Sanchez, who was studying engineering at the Mexican naval academy, had spoken with her mother only hours before the planned departure, her aunt said, excitedly telling her about the ship's next destination – Iceland. Her parents travelled to Mexico City on Sunday to arrange for the return of their daughter's body.
Relatives and friends arrived at the family's home in Xalapa, Veracruz, carrying flowers on Sunday. A small altar was set up on the patio with a photograph of Sánchez and candles.
The second victim was 23-year-old sailor Adal Jair Maldonado Marcos, according to the mayor of his hometown, San Mateo del Mar, in Oaxaca.
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Ship was on a goodwill tour
The Cuauhtemoc visited New York as part of a 15-nation global goodwill tour and was departing when it struck the bridge about 8.20pm, briefly halting traffic atop the span.
Mayor Eric Adams said the 142-year-old bridge escaped major damage, but at least 19 of the 277 sailors aboard the ship needed medical treatment.
The Cuauhtemoc sailed for the first time in 1982. It is almost 90 metres long and its main mast has a height of 50 metres, about nine metres higher than the span of the Brooklyn Bridge.
On Saturday evening, the vessel, which arrived in New York on May 13, backed out from the tourist-heavy South Street Seaport, where it had been docked for several days welcoming visitors. It's unknown if the Mexican captain requested a dock pilot to assist with the unmooring, but a harbour pilot was on board to sail it through the harbour, as required.
Tracking data from Marine Traffic and eyewitness videos show that an 1800-horsepower tugboat, the Charles D. McAllister, gently nudged the vessel as it backed astern into the channel but dropped off before the vessel turned. Seconds later, as the ship continued drifting in the wrong direction, the tugboat tried to overtake the vessel but arrived too late to wedge itself between the fast-moving ship and the Brooklyn riverbank.
McAllister Towing told The New York Times that one of its vessels assisted the Cuauhtémoc as it departed Pier 17, and after the ship hit the bridge, the company's crew provided extra help and notified the authorities.
'While the cause of the incident is still under investigation, McAllister Towing is fully co-operating with the relevant authorities and will continue to support the review process as needed,' a statement said.
After last year's crash in Baltimore, Mercogliano said, port authorities there had tightened rules to require a tug escort and slower speeds for vessels sailing through the harbour entrance past the partially collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge. The ship in that crash, the MV Dali, was a 95,000-tonne container ship about 50 times heavier than the Cuauhtemoc.
Some vessels avoid harbour because of low bridges
Accidents in New York harbour are rare because large cargo ships and modern warships generally avoid the area due to the low height of the bridges. But in July 2026, the harbour is expected to play host to the largest-ever flotilla of tall ships from around the world to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.
Mercogliano said investigators would evaluate whether the Mexican crew performed the recommended safety checks before their departure. Typically, that involves testing the engine's propellers, rudder and propulsion six to 12 hours in advance to make sure everything is working properly.
'It's not like your car where you're just throwing your shifter,' he said.
On Sunday, the damaged ship was moored at Pier 35 in lower Manhattan. A stream of people, including those who appeared to be investigators and crew, could be seen getting on and off.
The Coast Guard said damage to the Cuauhtémoc was being assessed. The Coast Guard established a 46-metre safety zone around the ship as the investigation by both the US and Mexican governments got under way.