November 14, 2022, 10:35 PM
November 14, 2022, 10:35 PM
A drifting ship collided on Monday with the bridge that connects Rio de Janeiro With the neighbour Niteró cityi, an incident that did not leave any injuries but caused major traffic disruptions in the region.
The Rio-Niteroi bridge was closed in both directions for several hours, “due to the collision of a drifting ship with the bridge,” according to the Highway Police (PRF) of Rio de Janeiro.
A video filmed by the occupant of a car while crossing the bridgereleased by the local media, shows one of the ship’s towers extremely close and a roar that would correspond to the moment of the crash.
“The technical team inspected the pillars and did not detect any damage to the structure,” The mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes, reported on social networks shortly before circulation on the bridge was partially restored.
The Navy reported in a statement that the ship’s moorings were released “due to extreme weather conditions.” during the afternoon of Monday, and that the ship would be towed to the port of Rio.
The ship, which belongs to the company Navegação Mansur, is “the subject of a judicial process” and it had been anchored in Guanabara Bay since 2016 “without offering risks to navigation,” added the Navy, which will investigate the incident.
According to the newspaper O Globo, the ship is 200 meters long and 30 meters wide.
The Presidente Costa e Silva bridge, popularly known as the “Rio-Niterói bridge”is an important transit point in the region because it connects both cities by cutting the bay.
The blockade of the bridge at nightfall caused congestion in several nearby avenues, as reported by the Rio Operations Center and shown on local TV.
