Last week, on the evening of May 17, a Mexican Naval ship on a good-will tour of the world crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge while the crew was leaving their recent stop of New York City. As of Monday morning, two crew members had been reported dead with many other injuries reported.
The ship that crashed was the ARM Cuauhtémoc.
The Cuauhtémoc had 277 people on board the ship at the time of the collision. 175 of those on board were naval cadets. In addition to the two fatalities, there were at least 22 crew members reporting injuries with various severities. The two crew members who passed away were 20 year old cadet América Yamileth Sánchez Hernández and 23 year old sailor Adal Jair Maldonado Marcos. Family members of Sánchez Hernández said that just a day before the accident she had sent pictures of her and other crew members around New York.
When the ship collided with the bridge, it smashed its masts and rigging.
Currently, there is no known explanation regarding what caused the ship to veer off course. Some experts have spoken out in speculation, saying that they believe the ship’s propellers may have been operating in reverse. It has come out that there was no tugboat in assistance to the ship. Pictures and videos have been shared capturing the entire moment of the collision. A Senator from New York, Charles Schumer, said that a tugboat that has been seen in images arrived after the ship crashed into the bridge and was not present for assistance prior to that.
The President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, has spoken about the issue.
Sheinbaum said that the Mexican Navy is working alongside the U.S. Coast Guard and the independent U.S. agency the National Transportation Safety Board to look into the cause of the collision. Currently the investigation is focusing on finding out if the crash was cause by mechanical issues, human error, or the lack of tugboat assistance.
Since 1982, the Cuauhtémoc has been a training ship for young Navy cadets.
The cadets board the ship and go for a monthslong exploration around the world to focus on team building as well as to help acclimate to life on board a ship. The trips typically last for nearly a year, making several stops along the way. The boat was making a journey like this at the time of the accident. The Cuauhtémoc was set to stop in 15 different countries at 22 different ports. When leaving New York, it was bound for Reykjavik, Iceland.
Many of the cadets on board were on the ship’s yards, which caused confusion in the videos and pictures. This is a tradition of the Mexican Navy, where cadets do this as a farewell to the port they are leaving. The Cuauhtémoc is also maneuvered this way.
