Maryland Briefly Close Bridge as MARAD Reserve Vessel Losses Steering

It has happened again, or maybe officials have just become very sensitive to all reports of a vessel reporting momentary problems. Thursday midday Maryland officials according to a report in the Baltimore Sun suspended all vehicle traffic on the busy Chesapeake Bay Bridge, a six-mile-long roadway span crossing the Chesapeake Bay near Annapolis, Maryland. The order came after a former Military Sealift Command vessel bound for the boneyard reported steering problems.

The newspaper reports that Denebola (55,355 displacement tons) got underway for her final trip Thursday morning, August 1 after having laid in Baltimore for many years as part of the Ready Reserve Fleet. The Ro/Ro cargo ship is 946 feet in length (288 meters). Built in 1973, she operated for Sea-Land as the Sea Land Resource for less than a decade before being acquired in 1981 by the U.S. Navy. During her career, she was involved in the Persian Gulf War, operated to the Mediterranean, and Africa, before being transferred to MARAD in 2007 and placed in reserve in 2008. For years, she sat in Baltimore with her sister ship Antares.

The ship got underway yesterday heading for Beaumont, Texas, to be recycled. She stopped briefly in Baltimore’s harbor and then proceeded out of the port and into the Chesapeake. The Baltimore Sun reports she had reached a speed of 14 knots, but before it reached the bridge reported it lost “steerage.” It is unclear if she had a tug escort, but she would have still had a Maryland pilot aboard.

The Maryland Transportation Authority, according to the Baltimore Sun, ordered the bridge closed at 1:50 p.m. reporting a “ship in distress approaching the Bay Bridge.” Traffic remained suspended for 15 minutes. It brought back memories of March when the police closed the Key Bridge moments before the Dali impacted knocking down the structure.

A Coast Guard spokesperson confirmed to the newspaper that the vessel had a minor issue that was quickly rectified. The vessel stopped near Annapolis for a further check by the Coast Guard but as of Friday morning is back underway bound for Texas.

The Bay Bridge, the newspaper reports, has been occasionally closed such as when the Dali departed Baltimore weeks after the Key Bridge incident. Generally, the Baltimore Sun says, the bridge is closed to prevent distracted drivers.

In April, reports highlighted that tugs were called in to stop another containership, the APL Qingdao, when it lost propulsion in New York harbor near the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge at the entrance to the harbor. Baltimore also reported another incident in July when the containership Bellavia lost power departing the pier at the Dundalk Marine Terminal and had to return to the dock for repairs.