Port safety “can’t be reactive,” insists marine risk expert
On the evening of May 17, a historic sailing ship from the Mexican navy, ARM Cuauhtémoc, collided with the Brooklyn Bridge in an accident that left two crew members dead and many others injured.
Although the iconic structure escaped major structural damage, the crash has reignited pressing concerns about port safety, risk management, and infrastructure resilience, just a year after the catastrophic Baltimore bridge collapse.
While the two incidents differ in scale and consequences, the similarities in operational vulnerabilities have not gone unnoticed. According to Capt. Rahul Khanna, global head of marine risk consulting at Allianz Commercial, the insurance industry is now more attuned than ever to the compounded risks posed by maritime traffic near critical infrastructure.
This heightened scrutiny comes as the maritime sector continues to face both conventional and emerging threats, from mechanical failures to geopolitical trade tensions.
A disturbing echo from Baltimore
The Brooklyn Bridge crash may not have caused a collapse, but it sent a jolt through the shipping and insurance industries, which are still recovering fr…