The media are reporting 2 dead and 11 critical injured.
There were people up the masts. They would have gotten suspension trauma.
There are several videos of it on the Catastrophic failure sub Reddit.
Looks like the engine got stuck full astern.
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No - too low - but the tide had other ideas!!
Regardless of control failure (or whatever), coming off a sheltered berth, 300m upwind & up current from that bridge, shoulda had tugs on to start!
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I note from that video that the tug wasn’t secured, but that the ship had prepared a spot starboard side aft for the tug to push or come in contact with the ship’s side.
They value their white paint and normally lower a large white sheet of heavy material to protect their white paint from the black rubber of the tugs visible in that video.
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Noted. Any idea why they moved So fast astern. I am clueless.
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Others are guessing engine stuck at full astern. Me too.
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My God . The boys were standing on the yards for yard parade. TERRIBLE tragedy
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Suspension trauma can be fatal if you are not rescued within 30 minutes.
The emergency services had a lot of people to rescue in this situation.
Yes. They should have been ordered back to deck when things went wrong before she hit. May not have had time.
A minor terminological correction. The term we use is “Man ship” or “man the yards”. It’s traditional navy custom entering foreign ports (and now departing too) after discharging all guns to seaward (origins of the gun salute) and immediately manning the yards to prove the guns were empty and unmanned thus the visit is friendly.
Warships continue this custom today manning the rails along the decks.
Here she is preparing to depart Fremantle with Leeuwin II still not cleared of rigging.
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Saw the news yesterday, but woke to find this horrible conclusion. I’m wondering why the nearest tug didn’t attempt to stop or slow the progression. Liability?
You mean like the United States?
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2.5 hours after low tide at the Battery, current would be running North up the East River, near its max. 3+ knots. 1/4 mile, do the math. My experience in that location is in small and manually-propelled boats. I would NEVER try to buck the tide in a low-powered or auxiliary craft.
I don’t know about the maneuverability or acceleration of this ship, but it seems they were counting on everything going exactly right. In my mind, the only prudent time to back out of South Street Seaport would be at slack water, or on an outgoing current. As we all see, the effect of an error or mishap was catastrophic. It took less than 4 minutes from leaving the berth, to impact, so there was zero time to react.
Why on earth would you depart at this time? Because a May sunset cruise in New York Harbor is visually stunning, for crew and spectators alike.
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The Charles D was nearby but unable to get a line up in time. You can see them in some of the videos. The Battery isn’t a place you would normally see a light tug, so I suspect the Charles was there as an assist. I also agree with a previous poster about the assist being made up or at least having a line up.
That’s the first thing I thought too: was there a pilot aboard?
Early reaction from Sal:
I watched her come under the Verrazano a few days ago. It was quite a sight.
I wonder why they had crew aloft when maneuvering? I don’t think they would be setting sails in the east river?
