Mexican tall ship lost power, drifted, crashed into Brooklyn Bridge, killing 2, authorities say

A Mexican navy tall ship that crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge, killing two sailors and injuring 17 others, lost power leaving port and got trapped in an East River current before hitting the 19th century landmark, city officials said Sunday.

The ARM Cuauhtémoc, a training tall ship with 277 sailors on board, had finished its five-day docking at Pier 17 at 8 p.m. Saturday as part of a goodwill tour cohosted by the South Street Seaport Museum, according to the museum's website.

Minutes before 8:30 p.m., the masts of the Spanish-built ship hit the bridge, city officials said.

Video taken at the scene shows the Cuauhtémoc's masts snapping from the impact as a large Mexican flag gently waves from a pole on the ship's stern.

"The ship was moving down toward Bay Ridge, where it was going to anchor and refuel," said New York City Office of Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol on Sunday.

"It reportedly lost power, lost steerage, then because of the current ended up under the Brooklyn Bridge."

Two sailors were hospitalized in critical condition, according to the NYPD.

On Sunday, several crew members had climbed the masts to repair the rigging as authorities examined the ship's deck.

Across from Manhattan on the Brooklyn side of the bridge, safety fencing knocked down by the ship lined the river.

Mourners gathered Sunday on shore, lighting candles, saying prayers and leaving flowers.

Andrea Ortiz, 20, who is originally from Mexico City, but now lives in Queens, said she stopped by the bridge to show her "solidarity" with the sailors.

"I know a lot of the cadets were happy to be here," she said. "They didn't expect the Mexican community to be so big here in New York. So when they arrived, it was a lot of people. So they felt very welcome. They were very excited. And, well, it was kind of tragic."

She said most of the sailors were in their early 20s.

"We're letting them know we're here for them even though you're far away," she said.

The Brooklyn Bridge, which opened in 1883, has a nearly 1,600-foot main span supported by two masonry towers. More than 100,000 vehicles and an estimated 32,000 pedestrians cross every day, according to the city’s transportation department. Its walkway is a major tourist attraction.

Traffic was halted after the collision but was allowed to resume after an inspection, city officials said.

Ishmael Alvarado, who lives by Pier 35, saw the ship docked for the past several days.

"My son told me, ‘Look out the window,’ and I thought it was a movie being filmed," Alvarado said of the ship.

Videos shows heavy bridge traffic at the time of the collision. No one on the bridge was reported injured.

The vessel can be seen drifting into a pier on the riverbank as stunned onlookers scramble away.

Sailors were visible high up in the rigging, aloft amid the damaged masts but, remarkably, no one fell into the water, officials said.

"Seeing the sailors dangling there. ... It was sad," Alvarado said.

The cause of the collision was under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, officials said.

NTSB officials were expected to arrive in New York City on Sunday evening.

The NYPD Special Operations Division, the FDNY, the U.S. Coast Guard and the city’s Department of Transportation were involved in the investigation. It is unclear which of those agencies, or the NTSB, will lead the investigation moving forward, Iscol said.

"I think the focus, like any major marine casualty, is going to be the man, the machine and the environment," said Kevin Mahoney, New York City maritime lawyer whose firm led litigation involving the container ship that hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in March 2024.

 "I think the [NTSB] in conjunction with the United States Coast Guard and potentially the Mexican government, will be looking at what operational issues might have led to the allision."

Allision is the maritime term for a collision between a vessel and a dock, bridge or pier.

"They'll be talking to the captain of the vessel, the pilot of the vessel," Mahoney said. "They'll be interviewing them and to see was there a fuel issue that could have caused the engine to fail? Was there a mechanical issue? They'll be looking into the maintenance history of the vessel, and then the environment. They'll leave no stone unturned in the investigation."

Jessica Anaya traveled from Rhode Island to attend a departure ceremony on the Cuauhtémoc ship before it embarked for Iceland.

"It was an honor for us to be there and see our people doing this," said Anaya, who was born in Mexico, adding that she boarded the ship to meet the sailors.

"They were just very happy," she said through tears. "Seeing how it ended up is heartbreaking."

With AP