Ocean captain: ‘The catastrophe could have been prevented with tugboats’ ‘Unimaginable’: this is how residents of Baltimore experienced the bridge collapse

While leaving the Port of Baltimore, a container ship from Singapore rammed a car bridge Tuesday morning, causing it to collapse. At least six people were killed in the accident. How the disaster could have happened is currently being clarified. In an interview with Watson, experienced tanker captain Maksimilijan Zubanovic explains which safety measures have clearly failed.

Mr. Zubanovic, do you know more than we do about the incident in Baltimore?
Maksimijan Zubanovic: Probably not. All I know is that there was a complete power failure on the ship and an attempt was made to stop the ship with a maneuver and drop anchor. And all that failed and then a catastrophe followed.

What happens if there is a power outage on a ship?
All systems fail – for such an event there is an emergency plan and an emergency generator, usually a diesel generator, which switches on automatically as soon as the power goes out. When the generator is running, the ship can be restarted with all systems.

I think that has been tried in Baltimore as well. You see the alternator turn on and off and black smoke rise. But it was clear there were problems.

The affected freighter is known to have had propulsion problems in the past. This is evident from an inspection report released in Chile last year. In addition, another ship from the same operating company was also taken out of service.

Assuming the ship cannot be restarted, would it have been possible to operate it using emergency power alone?
This is possible to a very limited extent. But actually only very limited. Such a gigantic ship can only be maneuvered if the ship’s propellers turn and generate propulsive force. They do not do this in emergency power mode.

How long does it normally take after a power outage before you have driving power again?
Normally this happens very quickly. There are some tests that need to be run, but these are just a few buttons that need to be pressed. It works in an instant.

Would there have been enough time for that?
I think so. Every captain and crew must know and be trained in these procedures. And the devices for this must be tested.

But clearly they had problems. As far as I know, the captain, pilots and crew are not at fault. There simply wasn’t enough time – the speed requirements were also met. It seems to me that everything actually went according to protocol.

Who is responsible for the ship in such situations?
In principle, the captain is always responsible. But in this situation, local pilots are on board. You take control of the time of exit – and are therefore responsible. The ship is piloted by a so-called AB – an “Able Bodied Seaman”, a trained sailor. There is also someone who is looking out. There are never more people on the bridge than when entering or leaving a port.

Could it be that the rescue maneuvers initiated caused the disaster? In videos you can see how the ship suddenly turns…
I do not believe that. I rather believe that those responsible tried everything to prevent the catastrophe. I think the ship got caught in the current and started to drift. I don’t know how deep it is there. The deeper, the longer it takes for dropping anchor to have an effect.

Could the disaster have been prevented if the container ship had been accompanied by smugglers?
The answer is not so clear. On a purely technical level, the answer is yes. If tugboats had accompanied the ship, they could have prevented the disaster. But the question implies that this would also have been organizationally possible. And the answer is not so clear. Such a container ship requires several tugboats: can they guide every container ship there in Baltimore for that long? Probably not. It is also a matter of economic efficiency. And what has been agreed between the port authority and the ship’s charterers. Personally, that would be very surprising to me in this case.

Enlighten us.
Americans are extremely restrictive. If there is even a minor problem with a cargo ship, it will be immediately seized until all problems are resolved. Therefore, I would be surprised at the circumstances under which this ship, which was known to have had problems in Chile a year earlier, was allowed into Baltimore.

The report from Chile has certainly been taken up by the port authority. The investigation must then reveal why the ship was still allowed to moor. I’m certainly curious.

The interview was conducted in English.