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Mexican Navy sailors prepared high-flying farewell display before fatal Brooklyn Bridge crash
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published May 18, 2025
Modified May 19, 2025
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LEONARDO MUNOZ/AFP via Getty Images
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published May 18, 2025
Modified May 19, 2025
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A group of Mexican sailors harnessed themselves to the towering masts of their ship docked beneath the Manhattan skyline Saturday night, preparing to proudly stand in unison on their vessel’s beams as they sailed out of New York Harbor.
It’s a traditional performance put on by the crew of the Cuauhtémoc, a 43-year-old Mexican Navy ship, whenever they enter or leave a port.
But those sailors likely would have avoided scaling the ship’s roughly 147-foot-tall masts had they known what would happen next.
NYPD officials said they believe the Cuauhtémoc lost power as it departed, and strong tides and winds sent it drifting up the East River. Around 8:20 p.m., the ship struck the Brooklyn Bridge, which has a clearance of about 127 feet above the water. The top parts of the ship’s masts snapped, and videos from the scene show several sailors dangling perilously from ropes while the vessel careened towards Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Mexican Navy officials reported two people died from the crash and another 22 were injured, 11 of them critically. The officials said the ship carried a crew of 277 sailors.
One of the victims who died was identified as cadet América Yamilet Sánchez by Veracruz Gov. Rocío Nahle García, who expressed condolences on social media Sunday.
“I deeply regret the passing of Veracruz cadet América Yamilet Sánchez,” Nahle wrote on X. “My love, support, and solidarity go out to her family.”
Representatives from the city Office of Emergency Management said preliminary information found that the tall sailing ship was scheduled to depart New York Harbor to the south and stop in Bay Ridge to refuel before heading through the Narrows and onto Iceland, the next leg of its journey.
Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York said during a news conference Sunday that a key failsafe wasn’t in place. He noted tugboats usually assist ships as they sail in and out of New York Harbor, but said one wasn’t in place to help the Cuauhtémoc before it unmoored.
“At the time of the crash, the tides and wind were blowing up river, thus requiring the vessel to use its organic power or the assistance of a tug. The vessel did not use a tugboat's assistance,” said Schumer. “Usually very often there is a tugboat before to help him get out, especially on a sailing ship.”
Schumer said videos from the incident show a tugboat near the ship around the time of the incident, but that boat was too late and trying to catch up to help the Cuauhtémoc after it had already started to drift in the wrong direction.
Mexican sailors stand along the masts of the Cuauhtémoc whenever the ship leaves or enters a port.
Courtesy Mexico Secretaría de Marina
The Mexican Navy was responsible for paying for a tugboat service to pull and guide the larger ship through the narrow passages of the New York harbor, according to the OEM.
Capt. Tuuli A. Messer-Bookman, a professor at the California Maritime Academy, said it’s up to ship captains and pilots to decide whether to use a tugboat to move in and out of the harbor.
“ A vessel like this would take on a local New York pilot who is a New York person, not attached to the vessel, and is a harbor expert and is familiar with all the tugs and all their capabilities,” Messer-Bookman said.
A National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson said the agency’s investigators would arrive in New York Sunday afternoon to conduct an investigation into the tragedy.
The ship was docked at Pier 36 in Lower Manhattan on Sunday morning while the investigation was pending.
Early Monday, the Mexican Navy said more than 170 crewmembers had been flown back to Mexico and had returned to the port of Veracruz. Two others were in stable condition and still receiving medical treatment in New York, according to a statement posted to social media.
The secretariat of the Mexican Navy, Raymundo Pedro Morales Ángeles, said late Sunday that Navy officials were coordinating with the Mexican and U.S. embassies on the safe return to Mexico of the ship's surviving crew.
The Cuauhtémoc translates to “Descending Eagle” and refers to the name of the last Aztec Emperor in 1521. According to the Mexican Navy, the tall ship fuses the sailors in the values of “honor, duty, loyalty and patriotism” and evokes a sense of national pride and goodwill from the Mexican government as it embarks on tours all around the globe.
According to the Mexican Navy, the Cuauhtémoc has successfully performed four global trips that have circumnavigated the globe.
When the tall ship arrived in New York last week on its latest visit, it extended invitations for dignitaries and the media to visit the vessel.
Phil Corso and Brittany Kriegstein contributed reporting.
This story has been updated with new information.
Tagged
brooklyn bridge
new york city
public safety
east river
mexico
transportation
Ramsey Khalifeh
Ramsey Khalifeh is a transportation reporter on the NYC Accountability desk covering the largest transit system in the country. He was previously a general assignment reporter at Gothamist and worked on the Boston Globe's metro and copy desk. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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