November 7, 2007
Thwap: Bay Bridge Hit By Container Ship
Egads!
The west span of the Bay Bridge was struck this morning by a container ship, the Cosco Busan. According to the Chronicle, "Coast Guard officials said the incident was not serious enough to merit a bridge closure." Still, that looks like some serious damage.
A witness on the ship claims that the Cosco struck the second tower west of Yerba Buena Island, and says the the extent of the damage isn't known. If it collapses into the Bay, well, we guess we'll know. But seeing as how the Coast Guard has given the all-clear, we doubt that that will happen.
Also, some oil was reported to have come out of the ship after impact, but only for a brief period of time, according to ABC 7. The oil flow, though, has since been plugged up. And there are no reports of any injuries. So...yay. Except, of course, for the supposedly minor oil spill. We'll see.
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I hope it was serious enough to merit a boat closure, because . . . ACK! I wouldn't want to be on a boat with a giant chunk like that whacked out of it.
Foggy day...
oh my god, i like totally live in San Francisco.
Those goddamn Sunis tried to wreck the bridge on purpose.
I think there were probably some language issues. In many cultures, "AAAIIIIEEEEEE!" can be interpreted as both "Turn Left!" and "Turn Right!".
I wonder who is at fault? Within the Bay, big boats have to use San Francisco Bar Pilots... captains whose only job it is to guide ships in and out local waters.