After a visit to New York, the fully illuminated sail training ship “Cuauhtémoc” of the Mexican Navy left the pier late Saturday evening to sail on to Iceland.
After the ship’s diesel engine stopped, the barque drifted backwards and collided with the famous New York bridge.
The upper masts, which were up to 48 meters high, snapped off. There were 277 people on board. According to New York Mayor Eric Adams, two people lost their lives and 19 were injured. Sailors who had been in the rigging of the “Cuauhtémoc” at the time of the collision were particularly injured.
Built between 1869 and 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge is one of New York’s major tourist attractions, but according to the authorities, it suffered no major damage. The bridge crosses the East River and connects the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn.
The 90-metre-long “Cuauhtémoc” and its three sister ships are among the most beautiful sailing ships in the world. The Mexican barque was built at a shipyard in Bilbao, Spain, and has been sailing the world’s oceans since 1982. As a proud ambassador of Mexico, the “Cuauhtémoc” bears the name of the last Aztec ruler, who became famous for his indomitable resistance against the Spanish conquerors. To this day, Cuauhtémoc is revered as a national hero in Mexico, and the barque is a worthy monument to this legacy. Her home port of Acapulco and her close connection to the Mexican navy make her a living symbol of culture and history.
The “Cuauhtémoc” impresses not only with its majestic appearance and a sail area of 2,377m2, but also with its thrilling entries into ports around the world. The ship looks particularly spectacular when the cadets stand in the yards. She already wowed visitors to Bremerhaven in 2008 and 2016, leaving lasting impressions, and should also take part in SAIL 2025 in Bremerhaven this year.
Participation in Sail 2025 in Bremerhaven uncertain
Ralf Meyer, Managing Director of the Sail Organizing Committee, is accordingly shocked. “Tears welled up in my eyes at first, it’s incredibly sad,” emphasizes Meyer in view of the news from New York and speaks of a black day for windjammer fans.
According to Thorsten Brockmann, press spokesman for Erlebnis Bremerhaven, the “Cuauhtémoc” is one of the most popular tall ships. Brockmann also calls the accident a “drama”. “Our thoughts are with the Mexican navy and the soldiers who were on board.”
Due to the severity of the accident, however, it is currently not possible to predict how long the necessary repairs to the three-masted barque will take, so it must be assumed that this tall ship will not be taking part in the largest maritime event on the German North Sea coast in August. “The damage to the ship is so severe that it is almost impossible for the ‘Cuauhtémoc’ to sail across the Atlantic in the near future.” But that is not the focus at all, says Meyer: “The most important thing is that the crew members recover.” (CE)
