Two crew members aboard a Mexican Navy sailing ship died on Saturday night when the vessel drifted into the underside of the Brooklyn Bridge, smashing its masts and rigging. The ship ARM Cuauhtémoc — with 277 people on board, including 175 naval cadets — was on a good-will tour throughout the world, which included a stop in New York.
At least 22 other crew members were injured in the crash, which was widely captured with harrowing videos on social media. The two who died of their injuries were a cadet, América Yamileth Sánchez Hernández, 20, and a sailor Adal Jair Maldonado Marcos, 23.
Rodolfo Hernández, Ms. Sánchez Hernández’s uncle, told reporters on Sunday that his niece had sent photos showing her in Central Park the day before the accident. When news of her death came, he said, “We broke down; we didn’t have the strength to bear it.”
What happened?
It’s still unclear what caused the 300-foot ship to veer off course and hit the bridge.
A maritime expert told The New York Times that the Cuauhtémoc’s propellers may have been running in reverse. After being briefed on the accident, Senator Charles Schumer of New York said that the ship “did not use a tugboat’s assistance” and that the tugboat “pictured in widely posted videos was responding after the fact, not assisting before.”
On Monday, President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico said in a news conference that the Mexican Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board, an independent U.S. agency responsible for investigating transportation accidents, were each looking into the crash to see “if it was a mechanical cause, if it was the tugboats, if it was a human error.”
What’s the purpose of the ship?
Since it was acquired by the Mexican government in 1982, the Cuauhtémoc has been used as a training ship for generations of cadets preparing to join the Mexican Navy. Every year, cadets embark on monthslong voyages where they learn teamwork, how to handle various weather conditions, ship maintenance and practical applications of their seafaring skills.
Each trip around the world, which on average lasts 234 days, follows careful planning and prioritizes navigating the seas and oceans the old-fashioned way. That is, by sail, taking advantage of the currents and the winds. While the ship spends most of the time at sea, it often docks at different ports to resupply and engage in academic and cultural activities.
What’s a good-will tour?
The Cuauhtémoc set sail on April 6 from Acapulco, Mexico. The purpose, according to the Mexican Navy, was “exalting the seafaring spirit, strengthening naval education, and carrying the Mexican people’s message of peace and good will to the seas and ports of the world.”
The tour commemorated the 200th anniversary of a key moment in Mexican history when the Spanish left their final stronghold in Mexico.
According to the Mexican Navy, New York was among 22 ports in 15 countries included in the ship’s itinerary. The tour was scheduled for 254 days, with stops in cities such as Kingston, Jamaica; Havana, Cuba; Aberdeen, Scotland; Avilés, Spain; Bridgetown, Barbados; and London.
On the night of the incident, it was leaving New York, bound for Reykjavik, Iceland.
Why were the cadets standing on the masts when the ship crashed?
In viral videos of the crash, dozens of cadets were seen standing on the ship’s masts with their arms wide open, secured only by harnesses, which is a traditional ritual.
For the past 43 years, the Mexican Navy said, cadets have performed this gesture as a farewell to the port they are leaving. The navy said it is also how this type of boat with sails is maneuvered. This time, however, the Cuauhtémoc drifted in the wrong direction, where it was never intended to sail.
How much training do the cadets have?
The cadets receive training “appropriate to their academic semester and are trained well in advance of the trip,” the Mexican Navy said. Once on the ship, it said, the cadets also take several sailing courses, which “are necessary to maneuver a vessel of this type.”
The cadets do not have any responsibility other than to study and practice seamanship, the navy said. The ship was directed by officers.
Where are the ship and the cadets now?
On Monday morning, Ms. Sheinbaum said the Cuauhtémoc, which remained docked at Pier 36 on the East River in Manhattan, must now be repaired, likely at a shipyard in the Port of New York and New Jersey.
The Mexican Navy told The Times that the ship would have to go through a technical inspection process and that the uninjured cadets would continue their academic semester “as soon as possible.”
Early on Monday, the Navy announced that 172 cadets, a captain and six other crew members had returned to Mexico. Two cadets are still receiving medical attention in New York City, and their condition is stable.
Emiliano Rodríguez Mega is a reporter and researcher for The Times based in Mexico City, covering Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.
James Wagner covers Latin America, including sports, and is based in Mexico City. A Nicaraguan American from the Washington area, he is a native Spanish speaker.
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