Bridge Disaster Offers Many Oddities

There is an old expression that a tragedy can bring out the best and worst in people. For our leadership yesterday simply brought out the worst and the worst. A cargo ship crashed into and took down the entire Francis Scott Key Bridge of Baltimore, Maryland, at 1:30 in the morning yesterday and things got more absurd after that.

The ship seemingly lost power, changed course, seemingly targeted one of two main vertical columns, and dropped the entire bridge taking the lives of at least 6 people.

I was immediately reminded of a previous article I wrote on a review of the film, “Leave the World Behind”.

“’Leave the World Behind’ Movie Offers Stupid Warning

An early scene of the movie shows a tanker ship grounding itself on a public swimming beach without warning. That movie offers up the “What if?” possibility of America coming under a massive cyber and space satellite attack to the point we experience multiple system failures.

“Ship crashing into beach scene – Leave The World Behind (2023)”

My second thought was that of a presser Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (D) did on bridges where he discussed the inherit racism in some bridges. Of course many other Americans thought of this and his video clip went viral on social media platforms yesterday to the point where some people got confused and thought it was a presser on the Baltimore bridge tragedy.

Pete “Bootyjuice” (as president Joe Biden once referenced him) was a failure as Gary, Indiana, mayor and appears as a Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) appointment as Secretary of Transportation. Nothing he offered yesterday in his part of the pressers was worthwhile.

And speaking of our fearless (Clueless?) leader, Joe Biden (D), he recalled all the times he traveled across the downed bridge previously by train and car. The only problem being, trains never crossed that bridge. (He always has to make it about himself to make him more relatable to his followers.)

“Biden says he traveled ‘many times’ over vehicle-only Francis Scott Key Bridge while commuting by train or car”

Then there was Biden’s promise to rebuild the bridge as soon as possible with taxpayer dollars. What about insurance money on the part of the owner of the ship and cargo company? What about the issue of liability?

“JUST IN: Biden Asked Point Blank If Ship Company Will Be Held Responsible For Bridge Collapse”

The next oddity we witnessed was the local FBI field agent coming out less than 24 hours after the incident stating terrorism was already ruled out. Talk about a rush to judgement! But hey it was just agent William DelBagno’s first day on the job leading that Baltimore office so maybe we need to show him some grace.

“William J. DelBagno Named Special Agent in Charge of the Baltimore Field Office”

While there is no information given as to Agent DelBagno’s political affiliation, and indeed it may be irrelevant, it is a known fact the FBI as a whole donate and vote more for Democrats than Republicans. This information first came to light in an article by the Washington Free Beacon titled “DOJ employee donations overwhelmingly favor Democrats” back in 2018.

“FBI official speaks on Baltimore bridge collapse”

Still, the idea of making such a significant ruling about this catastrophic and tragic event so quickly seems grossly inappropriate even to a novice observer. This entire surreal presser gave me a flashback to when Attorney General Bill Barr found “no widespread election fraud” in the 2020 election without any investigation.

CONCLUSION:

Like so many other boys in their youth, I briefly thought about a maritime career. I studied up on it and saw many things our youth today will never get to see. I saw huge ships with tugs and smaller fishing boats go up and down the Chicago River from/to Lake Michigan. I saw locks used to raise and lower ships and boats between the different water levels of the two bodies of water and I passed through them myself on tour boats.

I will humbly admit I am no expert but I will also say, based on my past knowledge, I found it extremely odd that this Dali cargo ship was not being flanked and escorted through the harbor by 2 tugboats. I also found it very odd there was no mention of a “harbor pilot” being on board with the captain in the Dali wheelhouse to instruct him. 

Some information on the Internet indicates there may have been 2 harbor pilots on board the Dali advising the captain on travel through the harbor that night.

The American Pilots’ Association and the Association of Maryland Pilots offered an explanation of what happened as the ship approached the bridge. Spokespersons said when the ship was just a few minutes out from the bridge it lost all power including both engines. A harbor pilot ordered an anchor dropped to slow the Dali down before the crash and ordered the rudder hard port (left) and contacted his dispatch office to get the bridge shut down before impact. All those believed missing and or killed are believed to have been bridge crew workers who were working on the bridge that night.

I am not sure if this was a conspiracy of terrorism or an accident but the one thing I am sure of, we could have done better. And, had we done better, that bridge would still be standing and 6 lives would not have been lost.

Copyright © 2024 by Mark S. Schwendau