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Two people have been killed and 19 others injured, two of them critical, after the 'Cuauhtémoc' allided with New York City's Brooklyn Bridge on May 16, 2025, with 277 people on board. The current seemed to have carried it into the road deck of the bridge at around 8:20 p.m.The tall ship had lost power as the captain was manoeuvring the vessel, forcing it to head for the bridge abutment on the Brooklyn side. The tide had just turned, and a fast current was heading up the East River as a 10 mph wind set in. The ship had a local harbour pilot – familiar with the conditions of the water there – and an area docking pilot helping guide the ship. At least one was onboard at the time of the accident. .The ship's masts clipped the bridge as it passed under the structure. Crew members were standing on the masts as they snapped and fell to the deck. Some sailors were hanging from the masts. One cadet fell from the topgallant, which is the highest part, to the deck. The ship's decks were covered in blood, all three masts were destroyed, all the cables snapped. The ship then hit the quay underneath the Brooklyin Bridge with its port side stern, which was damaged above the water line. Crowds of people, who had been watching the ship's departure, fled from the quay. In a rush to save as many people as possible, the boatswains had to climb the broken masts to rescue the cadets who had been trapped on them. Authorities began responding to the area around 8:26 p.m. after receiving multiple 911 calls, More than 100 fire and emergency medical service personnel responded to the scene. The Brooklyn Bridge did not suffer any major damage and was reopened after a preliminary inspection. While there was some damage to the underside of the bridge, it was not structural and transportation inspectors have determined the bridge was safe, The Police believed that a mechanical issues and a power cut had caused the allision. The New York Coast Guard said the 'Cuauhtémoc' lost all three masts. All personnel on the ship had been accounted for and no-one had fallen in the water. Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum said she was deeply saddened by the loss of two crew members in the accident. The 'Cuauhtémoc' was towed from the scene after the crash. She had left the Mexican port of Acapulco on April 6. Its final destination was intended to be Iceland. The crew of 277 were mostly cadets. Report with video: https://nypost.com/2025/05/17/us-news/ship-carrying-200-people-hits-the-brooklyn-bridge-as-search-and-rescue-operation-underway/

The 'MSC Meraviglia' has been undergoing technical repairs after having one cruise cancelled in mid-April. Offering weeklong itineraries out of New York City, the vessel was taken out of service ahead of the sailing that was scheduled for May 11, 2025. The 'MSC Meraviglia' was in need of technical repairs due to a mechanical issue. The problem was impacting the vessel’s ability to operate at standard cruising speeds. The 'MSC Meraviglia' was set to offer a seven-night cruise to the Bahamas and Florida from its homeport at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. In addition to three days at sea, the original itinerary featured visits to Port Canaveral, Nassau and Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve. Instead, the vessel docked in Portland (Maine), where repairs are being carried out by specialized teams. The technical issue never affected the safety of the crew and guests. The 'MSC Meraviglia' left Portland on May 17 and resumed service on May 18,, kicking off a weeklong cruise to the Bahamas and Florida.As with the cancelled cruise, the seven-night voyage features visits to Port Canaveral, Nassau and Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve. Sailing from New York City on a year-round basis, the was offers seven-night cruises to Florida, the Bahamas and Bermuda.

On May 19 the 'Cuauhtémoc' remained moored at Pier 36 in pos. 40° 43' W 073° 59' E, two days after the allision with the Brooklyn Bridge on May 17 at 8.20 p.m. with a speed of 2,7 knots, after setting off from Pier 17 in New York, assisted by the tug 'Charles D. McAllister' (MMSI366897820). The twin-screw assist tug was not connected with a towing hawser, and was not able to intervene before the allision. Damage assessments and future actions for the salvage plans for the sail training vessel were being determined. Sector New York has established a 50-yard safety zone around the vessel. At this time, vessels transiting the area have been requested to proceed at slow speed. The Coast Guard's Vessel Traffic Service was is actively monitoring the situation, and the NYPD was providing 24/7 patrols of the safety zone. The 45-metres masts broke when hitting the bridge, which only had a clearance of 41.1 metres. It was still uncertain if cadets, who fell from the masts, were among the two dead. 20 more cadets were injured in the incident, of whom 11 were reported to be in a critical condition. Nine were in stable condition. The Brooklyn Bridge was reopened after a preliminary investigation, as itappeared to have beeb left structurally intact. The bridge was temporarily closed in both directions for about 40 minutes after the incident. The USCG Sector New York immediately launched a crew from Coast Guard Station New York to the scene and established a safety zone from the Brooklyn Bridge to the Manhattan Bridge after the accident. The New York Vessel Traffic Services suspended commercial traffic in the area. The injured personnel were transported to local hospitals in Manhattan. The governor of Veracruz state identified one of the victims as cadet América Yamilet Sánchez, a native of Xalapa, the capital city of Veracruz and member of the Heroic Naval Military School.. The local city council of San Mateo del Mar, 23, in the neighbouring Oaxaca state, in southern Mexico, identified the second victim as Adal Jair Maldonado Marcos. Family and friends gathered at Sánchez’s home in Xalapa on May 18 to honour the 21-year-old naval cadet. Sánchez’s mother, Rocio Hernandez, was in communication with US authorities regarding the repatriation of her daughter’s body. The body of Sánchez was scheduled to be transferred on May 1 9 to the naval academy in her home state of Veracruz. She was in her final year as a navy cadet and was part of the international training cruise scheduled to visit 15 countries. The Mexican President Sheinbaum sent her condolences to families of the two crew members killed, saying, she was deeply saddened by the losses. The Mexican Navy was supporting those injured in the incident, and the Mexican ambassador to the United States and Mexican Consulate General were supporting the navy. A preliminary investigation by several authorities including the NYPD’s Special Operations Division, the Fire Department of New York, the US Coast Guard, and the New York City Department of Transportation determined that the vessel experienced a mechanical malfunction. The NTSB team started assembling in New York City to conduct a safety investigation into the 'Cuauhtémoc'. The members started arrived on the afternoon of May 18. The multidisciplinary investigative team was comprised of experts in nautical operations, marine and bridge engineering and survival factors. Captain Victor Hugo Molina Torres told the investigators that he lost steering of the vessel after the rudder stopped working. The East River has strong currents, and the tide was coming in towards the bridge - at the time of the casualty. The wind was also northeasterly, towards the bridge. The incident investigation is in progress and being actively coordinated between the governments of Mexico and United States. The voyage data recorder will provide crucial information about what went wrong and likely provide investigators with information about both the ship’s mechanics, including any control input and when power may have been lost and also provide information about the river itself, such as the water’s depth and its currents. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on May 18 that investigators must determine if budget cuts and program cancellations by the Trump Administration’s Department of Government Efficiency contributed in any way to the ship crashing into the Brooklyn Bridge. The barque had previously been docked at the South Street Seaport Museum for five days of public viewing. It was on a global goodwill tour.Tthe ship was supposed to make a stop at a Bay Ridge fueling dock before heading out to sea on its way to Iceland. Most crew members of the ship were expected to fly back to Mexico on the night of May 18. Reports with photos and video: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/05/19/us/brooklyn-bridge-collision-mexican-ship-wwk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIlRiauatEo

On the early morning of May 19, most of the crew of the' Cuauhtémoc' arrived in Mexico.172 cadets and two officers from the Heroic Naval Military School, as well as a captain, an officer, and three enlisted men, belonging to the crew of the sail training ship, arrived at the port of Veracruz. The sailors had been bussed from the site on May 18 at around 6 p.m. for a flight at 11 p.m. The city of New York provided a convoy of public buses to escort the crew to the John F. Kennedy International Airport. A handful of crew members remained aboard the ship, Two cadets have remained in hospital in New York, receiving specialized medical care, while their condition was reported to be stable. The team of investigators on the ground in New York City with the National Transportation Safety Board, which s comprised of experts in nautical operations, marine and bridge engineering and survival factors, which was assembled in New York City to conduct a safety investigation is expected to hold a news conference on May 19 at 3 p.m. Report with photos: https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/brooklyn-bridge-mexican-navy-ship-05-18-25-hnk

On the evening of May 16, 2025, the ‘Ina XL’ sank in the port of Antwerp at the waiting dock for barges at the Noordkasteel Bridge. Divers were called to assist in refloating the pusher tug. Only part of the wheelhouse remained above the water. Report with photo: https://www.flows.be/binnenvaart/2025/05/sleepboot-ina-xl-gezonken-aan-noordkasteelbrug-in-antwerpen/?gdpr=deny