Quote:
Originally Posted by Stu from NYC
Since the ship was moving at a good speed wouldnt the rudder enable them to at least partially stay out of danger?
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maybe a bit, but really without power its not very effective AND we don't know at what position the rudder was at, when the last power went out. If for any reason the rudder was not at zero degree angle to the center line, and unable to turn the rudder, the ship was at the mercy of currents, wind, the position of the rudder and the dragging effect of the port anchor.
I believe, in my opinion, the captain dropped the port anchor to help turn the bow away from the bridge. However, the anchor was dropped into mud, and dragged through the mud and in my opinion slowed the turn to the right towards the bridge, but couldn't stop the ship in time. I don't know if the captain dropped the starboard anchor, and that might have helped, I am not sure as I haven't seen really clear pictures.
I heard on Bloomberg that the salvage team, which demolished the Hudson River Tappan Zee Bridge and removed it, is heading to Baltimore. They have some pretty massive cranes. Some of them are HUGE, and will help clear the channel as fast and safely as possible. We would see them every time we drove to my son's house on the NJ/NY border from MA over the new Mario Cuomo Bridge.
That should answer most people's questions, but there are conspiracy theories about sabotage or hacking or terrorism. Lets put people's over active imaginations to rest. . .
Hacking, not possible, its a human/electronically controlled system, no outside connections, and no wireless internet, wired internet nor bluetooth nor all the shore side computer stuff. No servers, no mainframes, no laptops to control the engines.
BUT the type of electronics used has no manual ability if there is an electronics failure, per my brother the chief engineer of similar types of ships. Similar to a car with a computer board failure, you can't click a switch and start the car up and manually override the electrical engine controls. I am not suggesting electronics failure, but more the scenario if there was an electronics failure.
Next: sabotage or terrorism, if so, its a lone actor in the engine room doing something, damaging something or switching something. . very doubtful, I would NOT say ZERO probability because it involves stupid humans, but pretty close to zero probability.
Happy Easter everyone!