A goodwill voyage turned tragic Saturday night when the Mexican navy’s tall ship Cuauhtémoc struck the Brooklyn Bridge while departing New York Harbor, toppling its 147-foot masts and resulting in two deaths and 17 injuries.
The collision occurred around 8:30 p.m. as the Cuauhtémoc—a majestic barque-style training vessel operated by the Mexican Navy—was navigating under the Brooklyn Bridge en route to Iceland. The vessel, crewed by 277 personnel, including numerous cadets, apparently lost engine power near the East River, causing the fast-moving current to push it into the bridge’s roadway deck.
According to Mayor Eric Adams, preliminary reports suggest the ship was attempting a standard outbound passage when it lost propulsion. Alarming footage shared by bystanders shows the towering masts striking the bridge in rapid succession, splintering on impact as stunned onlookers screamed and fled the area.
“The boat was coming under the bridge, and there were sailors on top of the boat,” said Elijah West, a witness at Brooklyn Bridge Park. “The sails hit the bridge, and then people were falling off the boat sails. It was crazy.”
The Brooklyn Bridge, which has a maximum vertical clearance of 135 feet at high tide, could not accommodate the tall ship’s 147-foot masts—a deadly miscalculation exacerbated by the vessel’s power failure. Crew members were seen clinging to the rigging and falling into the water as the masts buckled.
First responders from the FDNY and NYPD Harbor Unit arrived within minutes, deploying divers and rescue teams as the vessel was slowly maneuvered downstream to the Manhattan Bridge area. According to FDNY Deputy Chief Paul Russo, two sailors died at the scene, and two others remain in critical condition at a Manhattan hospital. Several additional injuries ranged from fractures to hypothermia due to prolonged exposure in the river.
Maritime analysts are already raising questions about the ship’s navigation protocols and why a tall-masted vessel was cleared to transit beneath a fixed-span bridge with limited clearance. “This raises serious red flags,” said one port logistics expert who requested anonymity. “Either the clearance calculations were ignored, or this was a cascading failure starting with the loss of propulsion.”
The Cuauhtémoc—a symbol of Mexican maritime pride since its launch in 1982—regularly participates in international tall ship festivals, representing the country’s naval cadet program on global goodwill tours. Its visits are typically marked by ceremonial displays and open ship tours, and it had just wrapped up a public event at the South Street Seaport prior to departure.
The U.S. Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have launched a formal investigation into the incident. The ship remains anchored under escort while salvage teams assess the damage and ensure navigational safety along the East River corridor.
The collision marks one of the most serious tall ship accidents in recent memory involving New York’s bridges and raises concerns about port clearance coordination and emergency response protocols for large visiting vessels.
As of Sunday morning, sections of the Brooklyn Bridge remain under inspection for structural damage while maritime traffic along the East River has been partially suspended pending clearance by federal authorities.
