A massive container ship lost propulsion while attempting to leave the water around New York City on Friday, just two weeks after another vessel crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore Harbor.
The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed that the APL Qingdao lost propulsion around 8:30pm Friday while sailing between Staten Island and Bayonne, New Jersey. The ship was escorted by three tugboats and was later aided by another three tugboats after losing control, John Konrad, a maritime journalist and the CEO of gCaptain, said.
Fortunately, the vessel did not cause any damage but Staten Island Assemblyman Fall warned that there is an urgent need for comprehensive safety reviews of several major bridges in the area.
“While the swift response by tugboats to secure the vessel prevented immediate harm, this incident further highlights the urgent need for comprehensive safety reviews of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, the Goethals Bridge, the Bayonne Bridge, and the Outerbridge Crossing,” Assemblyman Fall (D) told SILive.com
“The recent disaster at the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland is a harrowing reminder of what could happen if we fail to prioritize the integrity of our infrastructure,” added Fall.
This incident comes just two week after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and a bridge over the Arkansas River south of Sallisaw Oklahoma being struck by a barge.
Journalist Lara Logan said two weeks ago that intelligence agencies have told her that the vessel losing control and crashing into the Francis Scott Key Bridge is due to a cyberattack, and claimed that they intentionally targeted the bridge in the right way to take down the bridge. Logan called it a “logistical nightmare” that will shut that route down for three to five years.