The Baltimore Bridge incident
Shifting blame The ownners of the ship that caused the crash at the Baltimore Bridge ae now blaming the tug captains for the incident, saying they left too early. As the ship was already drifting in the tide, the captains had no choice; blame should rest with the design of the ship. A ship that size needs to be a double-screw, not a single-screw. The accident was bound to happen sooner, or later, as the ship is too heavy for the propulsion unit to pull, that is what you get when you cut corners. This incident reminds me of an incident off the coast of South Africa many years ago. A French shippong line paid for a team of four tugs to transport an oil drilling unit from its home in Russia , to India , via the Cape of Good Hope . This was a risky venture with four tugs as the Cape is a notorious grave for shipping as you have the warm Indian Ocean current meeting the icy cold South Atlantic currents causing mists. At this point, the project was possible to succeed,...