THE cause of the Mexican navy ship crashing into Brooklyn Bridge has been revealed.
The ship snapped all three of its masts as it collided with the New York City landmark, leaving two people dead and 19 wounded.
At around 8:20pm local time, the captain was attempting to depart from New York’s Pier 17.
But disaster ensued as the ship’s masts smashed into the bridge, with them all breaking on impact and sending debris flying onto the vessel’s deck.
New York Mayor Eric Adams said the ship “lost power” and hit the bridge.
City officials also said beforehand that “mechanical issues” may have caused the incident but cautioned all information at this stage is preliminary.
The National Transportation Safety Board is conducting the investigation.
Adams provided an update on X a few hours later, stating: “Earlier tonight, the Mexican Navy’s tall ship Cuauhtémoc experienced a power loss and collided with the Brooklyn Bridge.”
“Currently, out of the 277 individuals on board, 19 have been injured. Unfortunately, 2 of those are in critical condition, and 2 have tragically succumbed to their injuries.”
Footage shows the ship, named the Cuauhtemoc, moving rapidly in reverse towards the bridge, close to the Brooklyn side of the East River.
Suddenly, its three masts struck the bridge and snapped one by one as the ship continued to move.
Onlookers are seen slowly backing away from the walking path by the river, before screaming and running to safety the moment the boat hit the bridge.
More footage shows heavy traffic on the bridge at the time of the collision.
Sailors could be seen aloft in the rigging on the damaged masts but, unbelievably, no one fell into the water, officials said.
One witness, Elijah West, recalled seeing sailors falling from height off the boat sails.
He informed the New York Post: “As the ship was passing beneath the bridge, sailors atop the vessel encountered trouble. The sails made contact with the bridge, causing some to fall from the ship’s rigging.”
“It was crazy. We were standing under the bridge and we all started running. Then I saw people hanging from the sails.
“Police boats came around fast – about five minutes later. And then police guided the boat to the [Manhattan] bridge and started the rescue. It was a shock.”
And 43-year-old Ismari Romero also described hearing bloodcurdling screams and cries as onlookers watched sailors – many of whom were cadets – dangling from the vessel.
He told the paper: “We were scared – a lot of people were screaming, a lot of people were crying.”
The Mexican navy said in a post on the social platform X that the Cuauhtemoc was an academy training vessel.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on X: “Our solidarity and support go out to their families.”
The Brooklyn Bridge, which opened in 1883, has a nearly 490-meter main span supported by two masonry towers.
More than 100,000 vehicles and an estimated 32,000 pedestrians cross every day, according to the city’s transportation department.
Traffic was halted after the collision but was allowed to resume after an inspection, city officials said.
New York Police Department Special Operations Chief Wilson Aramboles said the ship had just left a Manhattan pier and was supposed to have been headed out to sea, not toward the bridge.
The Cuauhtemoc is about 90.5 meters long and 12 meters wide, and according to the Mexican navy sailed for the first time in 1982.
The vessel’s main mast has a height of 48.9 meters, according to the Mexican government.
As midnight approached, the broken boat was moved slowly up the East River, going under and past the Manhattan Bridge, aided by a series of tugboats, before docking at a pier.
Onlookers continued to gather on the waterfront to watch the spectacle.
Each year the Cuauhtemoc sets out at the end of classes at the naval military school to finish cadets’ training.
This year it left the Mexican port of Acapulco, on the Pacific coast, on April 6, the navy said.
It arrived in New York City on May 13, where visitors were welcome for several days, the Mexican consulate said.
The ship was scheduled to visit 22 ports in 15 nations over 254 days, 170 of them at sea.
