A Mexican tall ship, owned by the Mexican navy and on a goodwill tour to america, collided with the underside of the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday night killing two sailors and injuring greater than a dozen others, officers stated.
The ship, the Cuauhtémoc, had arrived earlier within the week to the South Avenue Seaport Museum and was providing excursions to the general public earlier than it departed New York Metropolis certain for Iceland when the collision occurred. The crash, which occurred simply earlier than 8:30 p.m., occurred when the Mexican navy ship hit the bridge throughout a crusing maneuver on a coaching cruise, in accordance with a social media publish from the Mexican navy. The ship apparently misplaced steering energy and was pulled into the bridge by the river’s present, in accordance with an NYPD official.
Nineteen folks had been injured, New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams stated on X early Sunday, two of whom remained in important situation “and a pair of extra have sadly handed away from their accidents.” Sunday morning the Mexican navy despatched out an announcement with an up to date harm report saying 22 whole crew members had been injured, together with 11 in important situation and 9 in secure situation.
New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams and metropolis officers focus on the Mexican Navy ship that collided with the Brooklyn Bridge.
“The pilot lost power of the ship,” he stated, including that two crew members had been on a mast and had been injured within the collision.
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) Could 18, 2025
Essentially the most critically injured sailors had been up on the mast of the ship on the time it crashed into the bridge, officers stated. Nobody fell into the water, however divers went into the water as a precaution, in accordance with three police officers briefed.
The injured had been taken to Bellevue Hospital for remedy, the mayor stated.
“We are praying for everyone on board and their families and are grateful to our first responders who quickly jumped into action, ensuring this accident wasn’t much worse,” Adams stated.
The reason for the collision stays below investigation. New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch stated the Nationwide Transportation Security Board will take lead on the investigation and can conduct a full evaluate.
As of Sunday morning, the ship had been taken to Pier 36 on the Decrease East Aspect the place it was guarded by NYPD officers and an NYPD harbor unit within the water. The U.S. Coast Guard stated it has arrange a 50-yard security zone across the ship.
In a scene captured in a number of eyewitness movies, the ship, referred to as the Cuauhtemoc, could possibly be seen touring swiftly in reverse towards the bridge close to the Brooklyn facet of the East River. Then, its three masts struck the bridge’s span and snapped, one after the other, because the ship stored transferring.
Movies confirmed heavy site visitors on the span on the time of the 8:20 p.m. collision. Nobody on the bridge was reported injured.
A Mexican navy coaching vessel collided with the Brooklyn Bridge in New York on Saturday evening.
The vessel, which was flying a large Mexican flag and had 277 folks aboard, then drifted right into a pier on the riverbank as onlookers scrambled away.
Sailors could possibly be seen aloft within the rigging on the broken masts however, remarkably, nobody fell into the water, officers stated.
Sydney Neidell and Lily Katz advised The Related Press they had been sitting exterior to look at the sundown once they noticed the vessel strike the bridge.
“We saw someone dangling, and I couldn’t tell if it was just blurry or my eyes, and we were able to zoom in on our phone and there was someone dangling from the harness from the top for like at least like 15 minutes before they were able to rescue them,” Katz stated.
The U.S. Coast Guard initially suspended industrial ship site visitors within the space and arrange a security zone from the Brooklyn Bridge to the Manhattan Bridge whereas first responders helped rescue the folks onboard.
Getty
Getty
The Mexican naval vessel, the Cuauhtémoc, crashes into the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, US, on Saturday, Could 17, 2025. A 270-foot vessel carrying 277 folks scraped the underside of the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday night, sending some passengers into the East River and leaving others injured. Photographer: Myles Miller/Bloomberg through Getty Photographs
Simply earlier than the collision, Nick Corso, 23, took his telephone out to seize the backdrop of the ship and the bridge towards a sundown, As a substitute, he heard what sounded just like the loud snapping of a “massive twig.” A number of extra snaps adopted.
Individuals in his neighborhood started operating and “pandemonium” erupted aboard the ship, he stated. He later noticed a handful of individuals dangling from a mast.
“I didn’t know what to think, I was like, is this a movie?” he stated.
The FDNY introduced rescue crews to the ship and commenced treating them on the vessel.
“Once the marine units arrived on scene, we knew, initially, we knew immediately that we had a serious incident with a boat striking the bridge,” stated FDNY Chief of Coaching Michael Meyers in an announcement on social media.
“Our marine units got out there, picked up Rescue 2 and Rescue 4 and brought them out to the vessel. They started to remove and treat the aided. They also brought EMS units out to the vessel to start to treat the more seriously injured people on that vessel,” he stated.
Bystanders could possibly be heard cheering and chanting as rescuers eliminated sailors from the ship and introduced them on stretchers to security.
The Mexican navy stated in a publish on the social platform X that the Cuauhtemoc was an academy coaching vessel. It stated a complete of twenty-two folks had been injured, 19 of whom wanted medical remedy.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum regretted the lack of the 2 crew members.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of two crew members of the Cuauhtémoc Training Ship, who lost their lives in the unfortunate accident in New York Harbor. Our sympathy and support go out to their families.,” Sheinbaum stated on X.
The Mexican navy stated it’s working to reunite the crew members and cadets on board with their households.
“The Navy, aware of the risks naval personnel face in their operations, deeply regrets what happened and reaffirms its commitment to the crew’s families to provide timely attention and follow-up to the investigations into the events that occurred to accurately determine the causes of this incident,” an announcement learn.
With Fleet Week developing, the Mexican Navy is giving New Yorkers and guests a sight of its personal. The tall coaching ship ARM Cuauhtémoc is docked at pier 17 and is open without spending a dime excursions. The South Avenue Seaport Museum says guests can cease by over the weekend from 10 a.m. to eight p.m., with no reservations wanted.
The Brooklyn Bridge, which opened in 1883, has an almost 1,600-foot principal span supported by two masonry towers. Greater than 100,000 autos and an estimated 32,000 pedestrians cross every single day, in accordance with town’s transportation division. Its walkway is a serious vacationer attraction.
Visitors was halted after the collision however was allowed to renew after an inspection, metropolis officers stated. The NYC Division of Transportation stated preliminary inspections discovered no indicators of structural harm.
NYC DOT bridge inspectors have been on website since this night’s boat crash. Whereas inspections will stay ongoing, there aren’t any indicators of structural harm to the Brooklyn Bridge. https://t.co/IfpKIXJhYo
— NYC DOT (@NYC_DOT) Could 18, 2025
It was unclear what precipitated the ship to veer off target. New York Police Division Particular Operations Chief Wilson Aramboles stated the ship had simply left a Manhattan pier and was presupposed to have been headed out to sea, not towards the bridge.
He stated an preliminary report was that the pilot of the ship had misplaced energy as a consequence of a mechanical drawback, although officers cautioned that data was preliminary. Movies present a tugboat was near the Cuauhtemoc on the time of the crash.
Sailors on the Cuauhtémoc, a masted Mexican Navy coaching ship, disembark at Pier 35 after the ship collided with the Brooklyn Bridge, Saturday, Could 17, 2025, in New York. (AP Photograph/Yuki Iwamura)
The Cuauhtemoc — about 297 ft lengthy and 40 ft huge, in accordance with the Mexican navy — sailed for the primary time in 1982.
The vessel’s principal mast has a peak of 160 ft, in accordance with the Mexican authorities.
As midnight approached, the damaged boat was moved slowly up the East River, going below and previous the Manhattan Bridge, aided by a sequence of tugboats, earlier than docking at a pier. Onlookers continued to assemble on the waterfront to look at the spectacle.
Every year the Cuauhtemoc units out on the finish of lessons on the naval army college to complete cadets’ coaching. This yr it left the Mexican port of Acapulco, on the Pacific coast, on April 6, the navy stated.
It arrived in New York Metropolis on Could 13, the place guests had been welcome for a number of days, the Mexican consulate stated. The ship was scheduled to go to 22 ports in 15 nations over 254 days, 170 of them at sea.
“The Mexican Navy Tall Ship was here on an independent official goodwill visit and welcomed dignitaries and media while docked at Pier 17. That said, we had hoped and expected she would join the parade of international tall ships on July 4, 2026 for America’s 250th,” a spokesperson for Sail4th 250 stated. The ship was no at present dedicated to take part in subsequent yr’s occasion.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul stated she was briefed on the collision and has provided the help of state assets to town.
