The city of New York remains shocked by the incident that affected the Mexican training ship Cuauhtémoc this Saturday, which ended up colliding with the iconic Brooklyn Bridge. US authorities have opened an investigation to determine the reasons behind a tragedy that has left two dead and around twenty injured.
"There was panic," said 23-year-old Brooklyn resident Nick Corso to AFP, who was near the water. He was about to take a picture, but when he realized what was happening, he changed his mind and filmed a video of the event. "There were many screams, some sailors hanging from the masts," he recounted. "I didn't see anyone fall into the water, but I did see many people up there. People ran back and shouted!" he described.
In the city of Xalapa in eastern Mexico, relatives of América Sánchez, one of the deceased, gathered to pray in front of a photograph of the young woman surrounded by flowers and candles.
The brother of another Mexican navy cadet on board stated anonymously that the crew "doesn't know what happened." "It was very spectacular, they didn't have time to react," he said Sunday morning upon arriving in New York from Mexico City. His 24-year-old sister, who was going to graduate on this first voyage aboard the Cuauhtémoc, suffered minor injuries due to the accident, he explained.
"We are very sad, very outraged, very hurt," said the mother of another injured navy member in Mexico City, who preferred not to disclose her name for fear of reprisals. Desperate, she mentioned that she is unaware of the seriousness of her daughter's injuries, who joined the crew in Cozumel in the Mexican Caribbean at the beginning of May.
When a Mexican navy training ship collided with the Brooklyn Bridge, it was maneuvering in turbulent waters. The tide had just changed, and a strong current was heading towards the East River amid strong winds.
Although an experienced captain can easily handle such conditions, mistakes can be costly in the port of New York, where narrow and winding channels, winds blowing from Manhattan, and whirlpools can combine to make passage difficult.
However, the images of the collision recorded by horrified spectators show the moment the ship crashed into the bridge while sailing backward at full speed, suggesting that the captain lost control of the engine. There are also doubts about whether an escort tugboat withdrew too soon and should have remained attached to the ship or accompanied it until it reached open sea. Similar concerns about tugboats arose when a large cargo ship collided with a bridge in Baltimore last year.
Sal Mercogliano, a former merchant marine who has sailed various vessels through the port of New York, stated that all these "worst-case scenarios" —the height of the ship, a strong current, intense winds, and the absence of an escort tugboat— contributed to the tragedy.
"The prudent thing would have been to depart two hours earlier when the tide was ebbing. That would have been the ideal moment," explained Mercogliano, who writes a popular navigation blog. "But I don't think they ever imagined that the engine would propel them towards the bridge." "It's not like your car where you simply change gears," he pointed out.
Senator Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat and Senate Minority Leader, stated that any investigation should examine whether the federal government's freeze on hiring under President Donald Trump affected the staffing levels of the Coast Guard, safety procedures, and preparedness to respond to accidents.
"After being fully briefed on the Brooklyn Bridge accident last night, one thing is predominantly clear: there are more questions than answers regarding exactly how this accident happened," Schumer expressed.