The accident happened in 2001. involving ship called Windoc.
The vessel's name comes from the city of Winnipeg, where the owner's head offices were based. The fleet suffix doc refers to the Dominion Of Canada.
In 2001, while traveling through the Welland Canal, Windoc collided with Bridge 11 in Allanburg, Ontario. The accident produced a large fire on board, shredding the lift-bridge, and tearing the bridge off the vessel. No serious injuries were reported.
Two crew members reported minor injuries. ...amazingly
Welland Canal is between Lake Erie and Lake Ontsrio The bridge operator was impaired
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YuBv8KAWEmo
The track is called: Sailing home.by a dutch singer PIET VEERMAN
On 11 August 2001, the operator was on his scheduled day off and had completed two 12-hour day shifts during the previous two days. The operator took two Darvon-N tablets at approximately 0800 that morning to relieve back pain and had consumed between two and four glasses of wine around lunch time. Between 1300 and 1400, he received a telephone call from an SLSMC team leader, who asked if the operator would agree to work an overtime shift that evening on Bridge 11. The bridge operator agreed. ... After the telephone call, the operator relaxed, ate, and tried to get some sleep but did not sleep.
Drugs, alcohol, and sleep deprivation. Not a good combo.
Even if the captain might have been partially at fault (e.g. being late for the appointment), I believe the bridge operator is at fault. It looks like his bridge moves quite fast: it is going down at the beginning of the video, and quickly goes back up when the ship chimney crashes into it.
Definitely more reactive than a big boat with all its inertia. So, the operator should be responsible for ensuring no big, slow, hard to stop ship is headed towards him before lowering the bridge.
Selected comments edited from http://reddit.com/info/ubsw/comments
