At least according to some of the reports I’ve heard, the crew of the ship got out a “may day” call prior to hitting the bridge that allowed local police to stop traffic and, undoubtedly, saved many lives. At least from what I’ve heard (and at this point I’m taking all this news tentatively - details from differing sources are sometimes conflicting) there was about four minutes between the alert going out and the bridge collapsing - that’s not much time to get police on the scene and traffic closed off and largely cleared from a bridge of that size. This is a major catastrophe but, bad as it is, it could have been worse but for the timely response of a few.
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This morning they said 59 shipping containers had hazmat materials like lithium batteries and corrosive chemicals.
I hope the ship’s bill of lading shows where every container has been placed in the ship. If so, they should be able to determine fairly quickly how many of the haz mat containers are in the water and what’s in them.
That’s exactly how it has to work. Ships take on some cargo in one place and drop some off elsewhere. They don’t typically (as far as I understand) unload the whole ship and fill it back up with all new cargo. So, they need to know where each container is on the ship and where it is going. They do have to move some around to get at the ones they need to offload.
IIRC the top priority is hazmat has to be in the hold, though I can’t say if Li batteries are considered hazmat.
Loading and unloading is complicated - have to balance the load port/starboard, bow/stern and empties up top, plus avoid unnecessary moves like the one you want is under another. Add the typical route with unloading and loading at multiple ports and minimizing the number of moves gets complex. The software would need to know at minimum the destination, weight, and location on the ship of each container, and there is lots of barcode scanning along the way to avoid errors.
Lithium batteries are classified as hazardous according to news.
I think passage will be open in less than a month. Not all gone but passable 2 million a day in lost wages. Just a guess I have zero real expertise just thinking of World Trade Center.
2 containers went overboard, neither of them contained hazmats.
There are 56 containers that do have hazmats, but they are still onboard (along with ~4,700 others).
All this from the Coast Guard, who are both on the scene and have full access to the cargo manifests.
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Along with a dive boat the AIS maps are now showing four tugs. Maybe they are planning to pull the Dali today, or maybe there are crane barges with no AIS to push. I wonder how many port workers have been laid off.
AIS is only used on self-propelled vessels, as far as I know. I thought I read they would clear half the channel first to get one-way travel, then remove the ship but, I guess the whole operation is in flux depending how pretzeled the bridge is.
While most of the above discussion has been about the actual topic (duh!), as this relates to kayaking:
- a paddler is unlikely to be hit by lightning
- a paddler is unlikely to be hit by a meteor
Somewhere between the above 2 is the likelihood that a paddler will be hit by a freighter.
Bottom line: always be aware of what is around you.
My experience: No, haven’t been hit, but I’m always aware of where anything on the water is and the likelihood of them hitting me. Most of these are motorboats, extremely unlikely are freighters, pilot boats, tugs. But, I have a plan for myself if I see them off track a little, out of the channel, whatever. (kind of like, when entering a public area (eg movie), you should take note of exits - how to get out in case of emergency - likely not to happen - but better to be prepared).
A few months ago (paddling in dark, not in channel), I noticed behind me was a freighter with no lights. As they passed me - I noticed they did have a light on in the ‘bridge’ (is that the correct term?). Very strange. I kept extra attention to this guy.
I definitely pay attention to the ferry schedules when in the San Juan Islands!
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This NTSB brief gives alot of ino.
The ship did not sink, but it’s currently pinned to the bottom by the weight of the bridge wreckage on top of it. According to my charts the maximum channel depth in that area is about 40’, but right around the bridge piers it is as little a 20’.
To move the ship, first hundreds of tons of bridge wreckage have to be removed from and around the ship and the containers in that area of the ship will have to be removed and/or stabilized as well.
Draught of Dali: 13.0 m / 2.0 m / 21.5 m Avg/Min/Max. The ship is currently listed as aground.
Sinking was reported in the beginning of the news cycle and retracted as I said above.
Maybe they need a tunnel there.
The estimated the weight of the bridge wreckage on the bow of the Dali is 9 million lbs. The lifting capacity of the Chesapeake 1000 crane, the largest floating barge crane, is only 2.2 million lbs. Sounds like a lot of cutting.
I thought at first this was a post about kayaking or something there after the collapse… lol.
It is when you going? 
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The USCG has established a 2,000 yard exclusion zone around Key Bridge. You could probably launch on Bear Creek or Marley Creek among other areas and get a fairly good look at the scene. Note that southeast of the former bridge is open to the Chesapeake Bay and can get fairly rough on windy days. The Patapsco is almost 2 miles wide at the bridge.
Passage from the inner harbor to the Bay is completely blocked to all unauthorized vessels at this time. The USCG probably takes a pretty dim view of violations.
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A comedy of errors. Forgot my camera and had to use my phone. Sun was directly behind me so I couldn’t see the screen. Kayak wouldn’t sit still. Got a few anyway.
Pictures taken from the west side of Thom’s Cove just east of Curtis Bay on the Patapsco. About 1½ statute miles from the wreck, just outside of the exclusion zone.
