On: Baltimore's Key Bridge struck by cargo ship, colla...

[ViewTrick1002]

The Oil Tankers of the 70s were the largest vessels ever built. Today the largest container vessels are starting to creep up to their size, but not weight.

The container vessel in question is tiny compared to e.g. the Seawise giant or Batillus Class.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seawise_Giant

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batillus-class_supertanker

[nwiswell → ViewTrick1002]

Those ships would never have been permitted in the Baltimore harbor. They presumably still aren't, since there's no reason for them to be there.

[ViewTrick1002 → nwiswell]

It only depends on where the large-scale refineries are. If Baltimore had one they would be going there.

The smaller VLCCs are dime a dozen and they are 2-3x the weight of the Dali.

[nwiswell → ViewTrick1002]

The Port of Baltimore does not even have an oil handling facility, never mind the fact it could not admit a VLCC even if it had cause to.

Even ports on the US Gulf Coast do not generally have the capability to dock VLCCs.

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=36232

If Baltimore had been anticipating VLCC traffic in the 70s, then presumably the bridge would have been built accordingly and this incident would not have led to a collapse.