Baltimore bridge collapse may have been Cyber atttack

Per Lara Logan:
https://twitter.com/laralogan/status/1772675651599770093?t=XUXv-PfEn1uWbkOBtaobBQ&s=19


Multiple intel sources: Baltimore bridge collapse was an “absolutely brilliant strategic attack” on US critical infrastructure - most likely cyber - & our intel agencies know it. In information warfare terms, they just divided the US along the Mason Dixon line exactly like the Civil War.

Second busiest strategic roadway in the nation for hazardous material now down for 4-5 years - which is how long they say it will take to recover. Bridge was built specifically to move hazardous material - fuel, diesel, propane gas, nitrogen, highly flammable materials, chemicals and oversized cargo that cannot fit in the tunnels - that supply chain now crippled.

Make no mistake: this was an extraordinary attack in terms of planning, timing & execution.

The two critical components on that bridge are the two load-bearing pylons on each end, closest to the shore. They are bigger, thicker and deeper than anything else. These are the anchor points and they knew that hitting either one one of them would be a fatal wound to the integrity of the bridge.

Half a mile of bridge went in the river - likely you will have to build a new one. Also caused so much damage to the structural integrity of the bottom concrete part that you cannot see & won’t know until they take the wreckage apart. Structural destruction likely absolute.

Attack perfectly targeted.

“They have figured out how to bring us down. As long as you stay away from the teeth of the US military, you can pick the US apart. We are arrogant and ignorant - lethal combination. Obama said they would fundamentally change America and they did. We are in a free-fall ride on a roller coaster right now - no brakes - just picking up speed.”

The footage shows the cargo ship never got in the approach lane in the channel. You have to be in the channel before you get into that turn. Location was precise/deliberate: chose a bend in the river where you have to slow down and commit yourself - once you are committed in that area there is not enough room to maneuver.

Should have had a harbor pilot to pilot the boat. You are not supposed to traverse any obstacles without the harbor pilot.

They chose a full moon so they would have maximum tidal shift - rise and fall. Brisk flow in that river on a normal day & have had a lot of rain recently so water was already moving along at a good pace.

Hit it with enough kinetic energy to knock the load-bearing pylon out from under the highway - which fatally weakens the span and then 50 percent of the bridge fell into the water.

All these factors when you look at it - this is how you teach people how to do this type of attack and there are so few people left in the system who know this. We have a Junior varsity team on the field.

Tremendous navigational obstruction. Huge logistical nightmare to clean this up. Number of dead is tragic but not the whole measure of the attack.

That kind-of bridge constantly under repair - always at night because there is so much traffic and they cannot obstruct that during the day. So concern is for repair guys who were on foot (out of their vehicles) working who may now be in the water - 48 degrees at most at this time of year.

When you choke off Baltimore you have cut the main north-south hazardous corridor (I95) in half. Now has to go around the city - or go somewhere else.

To move some of that cargo through the tunnel you may be able to get a permit but those are slow to get and require an escort system that is expensive and has to be done at night.

For every $100 dollars that goes into the city, $12 comes from shipping. Believe this will cripple the city of Baltimore at a time when they do not have the resources to recover.

 

Or it could be really poor maintenance on the power and propulsion systems. Underway, and then take out the controls and ya got a floating landslide.
I'm sure there are some really stressed out harbor pilots ATM.

EDIT added:
I'm not sure how many truckers are happy or sad about the I95 corridor being out. Ring road around = more miles but not sure about congestion that'll probably happen

 

Back to the Exon Valdez. 3 men on ship of a crew of about 20 who could con the ship. The captian had been up for many hours, had a couple drinks and went to bed. The man conning the ship wasn't really up to the job and the third one was asleep before his shift. All blame on captian and not company for cutting crew to bone. About 20 in total, but that included cooks and house keeping, No real crew in engine room and is all automatic while it works.

Dali is about 1,000 feet long, one engine, one propeller and a crew of 22 and of course out of Singapore so I have no idea's of how many were engine room or what their records are. One man could do it very easily if he wished. Going downriver with an unknown current and tide, the inertia of a 1,000 foot ship, captian and pilot pilot were just along for the ride at that point. Data indicates it had released tug boats and hit bridge at close to 9 mph and about 100,000 tons is a little hard to stop and a lot of energy to transfer to a bridge support.

Dali ship that caused Baltimore bridge collapse was in prior accident

MV Dali - Wikipedia

Ship Lost Control Before Hitting Baltimore Bridge

While the news said support, live video of crash seems to be that he hit bridge in area where it wasn't humped up to let ships thru. That makes it almost impossible to avoid hitting it. If accident, once engine quit, was impossible to avoid. Very convinent at least. This video shows he hit support

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JebyNOvJmCMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JebyNOvJmCM

 

No, this WAS NOT an attack, this was a ship with a history of accidents suffering a mechanical failure of it's propulsion system and loss of control of said vessel,, nothing so nefarious here, but still!

The O.P. is absolute bullshit, completely lacking any facts, or anything supporting said "Facts" like not having a pilot on board, or actually aiming for the part that was hit, every single thing in that post is flat out WRONG! Don't post this kind of hyperbole bullshit here and get folks all worked up over nothing but a bad accident!

 

Agree, don't think terrorist, but is symbolic of the new equipment, Ships, planes, trains, cars, everything is automated and run by computer. Don't need anyone, crew of 20, 1,000 foot ship, old steel bridge, when things are going right, probably a couple hundred feet to spare on each side under bridge in channel.Well they didn't go right and at 9 miles an hour, no real time to do anything.

Took wife out get something to eat. Waiting to turn into park where we eat, traffic coming, 2 lane road, but good paved breakdown lane, Two semi's went past me at about 60 mph in the breakdown lane. 2 feet from me and a foot or two from edge of road. Nothing happened, but there was no room for error and if the first one had hit me, the second one couldn't have stopped. That is normal now, not unusual. We live in the fast lane.

 

Been watching Ships and Marine Salvage since I was a very young kid, Grew up not far from Fred Divine Diving and Salvage in Portland, and I climbed all over, through, and around the Legendary Salvage Chief, THE only pure salvage vessel in the world that can actually handle disabled or grounded ships, with a success record of something like 590 vessels salvaged. The Son in Law who took over the entire company after Ol Fred Died used to tell me that as ships got bigger and bigger, and we relied on technology more and more, this kind of thing was bound to happen more and more! As it stands today, the Ol Salvage Chief remains the only vessel in the world who could get that port opened and operational, and you think anyone has bothered to call and dispatch the Chief to the east coast to get things handled, NOPE, she still sits tied along side waiting by the phone for the call that will not likely come! I emailed all the parties involved in this, telling them they should call Dvivine and get the chief underway, Crickets!

 

And the follow up

 

Biden said it's not an act of aloha snackbar and anyone who says otherwise is a maga chode clinger conspiracy racist.

You're assuming the people in Baltimore/DC are competent.

 

When something looks intentional, it usually is.

 

Wonder if the crew was on station and ready with the anchors. Video above says one was deployed, that's the first I heard that.

 

Insurance and reinsurance rates are going up.
vessel safety inspections are going up.
east coast port times are going up.
commute times are going up.
freight rates are going up.
'cause the bridge went down.

Our roads, bridges and rail infrastructure has decayed. Looks like we've overloaded our ports and we are now paying the price for not keeping up on maintenance let alone improvement.

Yep, just be glad it wasn't a larger port like Houston, New york/new jersey, long beach or LA.

 

Joe went over that bridge many times, on Amtrak, with CornPop.

 

I'm surprised he didn't say he helped get the funding for it back in the 70s

 

Everyone knows a guy like him. (Or multiple) You can’t bring anything up that he can’t top. Next he’ll say “Beau died on that bridge from cancer, in Iraq!” Of course nobody tells him to “lay off the bs stories, it’s a bad look.” (Off-topic a bit, oops.)

 

Won't know for a while, but with diesel engine, 1, , on the boat, I would go for a fuel problem. Got a diesel tractor and as it has no spark plugs, blower etc, if it will turn over and has compression, it's a fuel problem. If you lose the whole engine, not one cylinder, its either bad fuel, fuel pump, or you have problems with high pressure section of injector system. If the smoke was main engine and not genset, then it almost had to be fuel. If I were on the inspection team, would have had man in engine room before I talked to the captain. Man I feel sorry for is pilot, he is the boss even if ship is dead in water.

 

Another feather in Mayor Pete's cap!

 

Where the heck did I put that foil hat

 

FIrst thing, I spoke with Dad ( Retired Captain) who is somewhat familiar with this port, and he pointed out some details you all need to know! Firstly,, the Pilot isn't the one to blame here, it's all on the ships Captain, he is the master and is incharge and is required to be on the bridge and in command at all times while in or transiting port! The Pilot is only there to guide the ship through port and out into open waters where it then continues on it's own! According to Dad, the tugs followed standard operation procedures for undocking and turning the ship, and then escorted the ship while it got under way, so no issue with the tugs, Every port is different in how they run the tugs and all indications are that the tugs followed their set procedures completely! Some ports require a tug escort further, usually because there are complex turns, or the channel is too tight for a ship to run un assisted on it's way in or out! The Pilot is only on board to guide the ship, he/she is NOT in command, nor do they have any authority over ship operations, PERIOD, the captain is required to be on the bridge at all times during transit in and out of port, required to be sober, and have completed the mandatory rest period before sailing! The Captain is the master, NOT the pilot, and bears FULL responsibility here, it's likely the bridge went into full panic mode at the loss of power, the Captain and Chief Engineer were likely on the radio/phone trying to figure things out and get power restored, the pilot was basically along for the ride, likely on his radios and issuing warnings, and emergency requests for tugs and finally a MayDay to the Coast Guard, The first Mate likely gave the order to drop anchor and then working with the deck crew to clear the bow and brace for impact! The Second Mate likely hauled ass to engineering to assist and communicate with the Captain.

All of this in context within the few minutes for things to go from A-Ok, to Holy Shit, we got a problem, to Oh Fuck we just hit the bridge and,......

Bottom line here, from the time the ship first lost power, the wheels of disaster were fully set against this ship, it all happened too fast to be able to recover, and from everything we can see, everything that could be done, Was done, the ship was simply doomed right as she lost power! Could the tugs have pushed her far enough in the time they would have had had they been in escort, MAYBE, depending on the Tugs involved and their max power available! Outside of that, there was NOTHING that could have saved the ship or the bridge!

Why did the entire ship loose power? Why didn't the back up/emergency generators kick in?
How did they manage to get the main engine fired up, in full reverse no less ( Which would be correct) and then loose full power yet again? I and Dad both suspect ether a mechanical fuel valve had ether failed or was not turned on, or somehow the ships main engine controls that start the engine in forward or reverse had some how failed, or if there was electrical engine control, how/why did it fail? From everything we know as of now, and knowing how ships propulsion systems operate, We suspect it was engine/fuel control that ether failed, or was not being operated correctly, and not a fuel quality/contamination problem! Still, this doesn't explain why the emergency generators didn't ever come on line ( That we know of)???? These monstar ship engines operate in direct drive, they are Two Stroke, and can run with one or more cylinders not firing, so a total failure tells me it was a fuel issue! These engines are designed to run forward and in reverse, you have to shut it down to switch from forward to reverse, and back again, this is usually a super simple process, BUT could have been the source of the failure, if the ship's engine controls had not been fully set in the forward operating configuration, that might explain the first failure, but the second,..................ether the ships engineer was not present in the engine room, or something else failed that they were not able to fix in time, not that there was time in the first place!

 

Dali cargo ship suffered 'severe electrical problem' while docked in Baltimore days prior to bridge collapse crash that saw it suffer 'total power failure, loss of engine failure', port worker says | Daily Mail Online

POS was allowed to sail, when it should have been help until the electrical problems were resolved. Ship owner and insurance have to be passing bricks about now.....

 

• Don't run engine for power while docked as far as I know. Hook up to dockside power or at least use genset. Sounds like problem for port or in distribution of port power, not ship engine. Could possibly damaged something, but doubt it. No reason to have main engine stuff online when turned off and at dock. Sounds more likely the first of the ambalence chasing lawyers has arrived and is chumming the water.