I'm sure this was pure accident. About the only thing that bothers me about this whole thing...in the news reports, eyewitness accounts...I have not seen one single mention of the ship sounding it's horn when it became apparent that the situation became irretrievable. Maybe the videos I looked at just didn't have audio. Even though I don't think it's covered specifically in COLREGS, the pilots should have sounded the horn constantly until impact. Would it have saved lives? doubtful, with so many span sections falling, but it should have been done. When I was working on crane barges, if we should have one or more anchors break loose or pull under high tension...anyone, crane operator, tug, rig tenders, workboats... was encouraged to sound the alarm by repeated short blasts of a horn...hold fast boys, immediately lower suspended loads, get out of the way of unsecured cargo, get away from anchor cables and deck fairleads.
Well this is a fine pickle we're in, should'a listened to Joe McCarthy and George Orwell I guess.
