Mike O' Gorman’s Post

Houston, We Have a Ship Problem | The Sinking of Miss Peggy | Risks in US Ports! In this episode, Sal Mercogliano - a maritime historian at Campbell University (@campbelledu) and former merchant mariner - discusses the sinking of the towboat Miss Peggy and the potential for other issues following a series of incidents in American ports. https://lnkd.in/eRe8eyFK

After a tragic accident occurred in February in China's Pearl River Delta near Guangzhou city, resulting in the death of five individuals where a barge collided with a bridge over a waterway, causing a section of the bridge to collapse and sending vehicles plunging into the water (see: https://lnkd.in/dvUdFT76 ), the same is happening again in Baltimore 🚨 A major rescue operation is underway in the US Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore after a container ship hit a road bridge, causing it to collapse into the water. At least seven people have been reportedly pulled into the water, with officials calling it a "mass-casualty event." 💔 https://lnkd.in/dKF6tnvC Video footage of the incident (see YouTube video bellow) shows the Francis Scott Key Bridge across the Patapsco river collapsing at around 1.30 am local time. The bridge carries the Interstate 695 highway across the river. The Singapore-flagged container ship Dali was at the site of the bridge collapse, surrounded by rescue tugs. It had just left Baltimore for the Sri Lankan port of Colombo and was using specialist pilots to navigate out of the port. Fortunately, all crew members, including the two pilots aboard, have been accounted for and there are no reports of any injuries on the ship. The 300-metre ship was operating a service for Denmark's A.P. Moller - Maersk, the world's second-biggest container shipping line. Baltimore is one of the busiest ports on the US east coast, serving a large metro area including Washington DC. Serious collisions between ships and civilian infrastructure are rare events, especially ones causing damage and injury. Our thoughts are with those impacted by this tragic incident. 🙏 Let's hope for a swift and successful rescue operation and let's build guidelines to avoid these scenarios in the future. #Baltimore #BridgeCollapse #RescueOperation #shipping #riskmanagement

Trains shouldn't derail, but they do. Planes shouldn't fall out of the sky, but they do. Submarines shouldn't implode, but they do. Oil refineries shouldn't explode, but they do Drivers shouldn't drive impaired, but they do. The list is endless and it doesn't make matters any better. Life is often a series of #LessonsLearned from unfortunate events. In fact, most #Safety Legislation is written in blood; the result of a tragic occurrence. In every instance there is often (not always) a complicated and interlinked/woven series of events that, in and of themselves, don't seem to matter. However, when they are combined, they result is an incomprehensible event. The National Transportation Safety Board will conduct an thorough investigation and publish the results, in about 12-18 months. Until then we will hear some press releases but the full story will take time. #SafetySystems #SafetyCulture #SafetyEngineering #Policy #Legislation #BePrepared

This is a massive effort: Huge impact to workforce and the set back to understanding Why? This was not already a safety concern with no measures in place to avoid a catastrophic event like this from happening: Loss of life, An engineer lasp of no counter measures in place that can provide support to avoid something like this from happening: Economic set back with now NTSB maritime leadership will express safety and economy security measures on all other ports that have possible lack of safety measures in place, port modifications are needed across the entire globe to help move global trade to its safest and innovative levels to keep moving the economic wheel moving. #Forwardthinkingglobally

Highlights from the WSJ reporting - Baltimore Bridge Collapses After It Was Hit by Cargo Ship, Rescue Efforts Under Way U.S. Coast Guard officials said footage posted online indicates the vessel had some mechanical issues just before hitting the bridge. Lights on the vessel can be seen going dark, coming on, then going out again just before the vessel hit the support column. As many as 20 people and multiple cars likely fell in the water. The Francis Scott Key Bridge, that carries Interstate 695, was struck by a boxship at around 1:30 a.m. ET. The bridge is the entryway to the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore, the largest port in the U.S. for specialized cargo like trucks, tractors and trailers. It is also a gateway for bulk cargo like coal and petroleum products. Some 800,000 vehicles passed through the port in 2023, moving three million tons of cargo. The collapse will have ripple effects on the port's operations that could last for months. All vessel traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore is suspended until further notice. The Singaporean containership, called the Dali, was on its way to Sri Lanka when it struck the bridge. It remained stuck under the bridge Tuesday morning with all crew still on board. The ship is operated by the Singapore-based Synergy Marine Group which said that the vessel had deployed its own emergency procedure and the crew was checking for casualties in the water. All of the crew are safe, the company added. Synergy said two pilots were on the bridge to steer the ship through the crossing. Pilots are active or former captains who work at ports and take over ships as they move in and out of ports. "The pilots take over the ship because they know the port's tight spots like the back of their hands," said Ioannis Sgouras, a veteran Greek captain who has sailed to Baltimore many times. Box ships heading to Baltimore are likely to divert north to the Port of New York and New Jersey, or south to the Port of Virginia, which process many more containers each year and should be able to pick up the slack. About 21,000 standard, 20-foot containers pass in and out of Baltimore each week, said a shipbroker. New York and New Jersey handle more than 10 times that volume. Specialized supply chains could experience more disruption. The port administration says Baltimore is the biggest port on the East Coast for handling "ro-ro," short for roll-on-roll off and encompassing cargoes of autos, trucks, tractors and wheeled cranes. Coal, liquefied-natural gas and waste paper have ranked among the top exports from the port in recent years, while vehicles, salt, gypsum and sugar have been the biggest imports. The main span of the bridge, which was built in 1977, is roughly 1,200 feet, making it one of the longest continuous trusses in the world. The bridge itself spans a total of 1.6 miles, but the overall structure including its approaches covers almost 11 miles. https://lnkd.in/euj8-89e

Real Life Incident: Fractured Crown Shackle Spotted Check out this article 👉 https://lnkd.in/dThe2sBA #shipping #shippingindustry #maritimeindustry #maritime #maritimesafety #MarineInsight #Merchantnavy #Merchantmarine #MerchantnavyShips

The light at the end of the tunnel for the Baltimore Port as it is set to be re-opened next week sometime. Incidents like these can significantly disrupt logistics operations by delaying shipments, causing rerouting of cargo, and potentially leading to increased transportation costs. Such events can also strain resources as logistics companies scramble to adjust plans and communicate with clients about delays. The ripple effects can impact supply chains globally, especially if the incident affects a major shipping route or hub.   #BoltimorePort #LogisticsNews #Logistics #CargoUpdates

News Service Has 5 Questions for Michael Rubin of Florida Ports

Follows something I was writing yesterday, prophetically, on the expansion of the Panama Canal and the bridges of the North American East Coast (ECNA) port system. [...]In spite of the millions spent on research, global trade forecasts, and feasibility studies on the expansion of the Panama Canal, the capacity of the new locks was soon to present a new limitation to the newest generations of containerships, built far bigger than the 14,000 TEU limit of the 'Neo Panamax'. Didn’t the Panama Canal Authority see this coming? I believe they did, but there were two important parameters they had to take into account (other than costs of course): i) the rocky seabed of the US East Coast, making dredging costs prohibitive and ii) the (tidal) clearance under some of the bridges of the New York – New Jersey port system that do not allow passage of the latest generation of containerships[...]

Highly interesting insight into shipping security in the Red Sea.