NTSB Report Reveals New Details About The Brooklyn Bridge Sailboat Collision

New details were revealed by federal investigators about the Mexican Navy tall ship that had hit the iconic Brooklyn Bridge on May 18, 2025.

It was found that the sailing ship Cuauhtémoc was moving backwards at over 6 mph when it collided with the bridge, leading to the death of two people, who were part of the Mexican Navy, while injuring more than a dozen of the 277 people onboard.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is yet to determine the cause of the incident, but its initial report highlights events that led to it, while the final report might take over a year to be completed.

The new details included the report of the damage to the ship, including scraped paint on its left side and a bent rudder turned sideways.

The report also found that the local harbor pilots who helped manoeuvre the ship gave commands in English, which were then translated into Spanish for the crew members, though the report has not drawn any conclusions from this information, or stated if it led to the crash.

Per the findings, about an hour and a half before the collision, a sea pilot boarded the ship at 7:02 p.m., followed by a local pilot at 7:45 p.m.

The ship’s captain informed the pilots that the propulsion and steering systems were fine and there were no issues, per the report.

The situation unfolded after the ship was untied from the dock at 8:16 p.m. A few minutes later, a tugboat helped it off the pier. The docking pilot ordered the ship to move backward.

The commands were translated to Spanish and given to a crew member on the lower deck, who then gave orders to those on the navigation bridge, where the commands were inputted.

The ship moved backward, and once clear, the docking pilot gave the stop command and ordered it to move forward slowly.

A tugboat pushed against the ship’s front side, and its back began to swing toward the bridge. The tugboat then stopped pushing, backed away and tried to move toward the back of the ship.

In the last minute before the impact, around 8:23 or 8:24 p.m., the ship’s backward speed doubled, and when it hit the bridge, it was moving backwards at 5.9 knots, which is more than 6 mph.

Earlier, local authorities had said that the ship had lost power and mechanical function before it hit the bridge.

The crash could be seen in several videos of onlookers who captured the moment its masts adorned with lights, hit the landmark while crew members could be seen holding onto the masts after the incident to save themselves from falling.

The bridge did not sustain any serious damage from the collision.

Video Credits: abc News

References: ABC 7, abc news

Source: Maritime Shipping News