A Mexican Navy training sailboat crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday night. Two people died and 19 others were injured in the incident.
The sailing vessel Cuauhtémoc with 277 people on board hit the underside of the bridge at 8:26 PM local time on May 17, 2025.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams confirmed two deaths from the collision. Two of the injured remain in critical condition.
The ship lost power while the captain was moving the vessel. This forced it to drift toward the bridge support on the Brooklyn side.
Video shows the ship’s tall masts hitting the bridge as it passed underneath. Crew members standing on the masts fell to the deck when they broke.
Brooklyn resident Nick Corso witnessed the accident. “There was lots of screaming, some sailors hanging from the masts,” he said.
A law enforcement source told CNN that the two deaths happened when people fell from one of the ship’s masts.
After the crash, all Brooklyn Bridge lanes closed temporarily. They reopened by 10:30 PM after checks found no damage to the bridge.
The New York Police Department asked people to avoid the Brooklyn Bridge area, South Street Seaport, and Dumbo due to traffic and emergency vehicles.
The Cuauhtémoc measures 94 metres long and 40 metres wide. The Mexican Navy training ship first sailed in 1982.
The ship’s masts stood 48.2 metres tall. The Brooklyn Bridge has a clearance of 41.15 metres at its center.
The vessel sails yearly after naval military school classes end to finish cadet training.
This year, the Cuauhtémoc left the Mexican port of Acapulco on April 6, 2025. Iceland was its final planned destination.
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum expressed sadness over the crew members’ deaths.
The Mexican Navy posted on social media that “the condition of the personnel and equipment is being assessed by naval and local authorities.”
The National Transportation Safety Board started an investigation. Early information points to mechanical issues with the sailboat as the likely cause.
The U.S. Ambassador to Mexico offered support for those affected by the incident.
Before the accident, the Mexican Consulate in New York had announced the training ship would dock at Pier 17. The public was invited to visit for free from May 13 to 17.
