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Tragedy Strikes the A.R.M. Cuauhtémoc

ARM CUAUHTEMOC arrives in Freo

The ARM (1) Cuauhtémoc, also affectionally known as ‘El Embajador y Caballero de los mares’ (2), is a steel hulled, three-mast barque commissioned in 1982.

  1. ARM = Armada República Mexicana
  2. The Ambassador and Knight of the Seas

In September of 2024 this grand vessel visited the Port of Fremantle in Western Australia and I was lucky enough to have walked her decks. For more information on this visit (and the history of the tallship itself) please read………The Tallship Cuauhtémoc

Sailing near Mindarie Western Australia

As part of a global goodwill tour the Cuauhtémoc set sail from Acapulco on April 6 (2025) and arrived in New York on May 13. The ship berthed at Pier 17 and was open to the public from May 13 to 17.

The tallship Cuauhtemoc was on a training cruise called the “Bicentenario de la Consolidación de la Independencia en la Mar”. (Bicentennial of the Consolidation of Independence at Sea) and was in New York for a few days before continuing on its journey to Iceland.

The Cuauhtemoc preparing to leave

Upon departure the ship was supposed to head south out of New York Harbour but things ran tragically astray when the ship went in the wrong direction and sailed under the Brooklyn bridge.

The Brooklyn Bridge, a suspension bridge completed in 1883, spans the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York City. Its vertical clearance of 127 feet (39 m) (1) and busy traffic make navigation difficult for tall vessels.

  1. The Cuauhtemocs tallest mast is its main mast at 160 feet (or just over 47m)
Brooklyn Bridge

The Cuauhtémoc had been docked at Pier 17 in Manhattan, just down the river below the Brooklyn Bridge.

At approximately 8:26 p.m. on May 17 2025, the A.R.M. Cuauhtémoc was setting sail, under the control of a New York Port pilot (as required by Port regulations), having previously left from South Street Seaport.

As it was making its way out of the harbour, it was scheduled to make a stop at a Bay Ridge fuelling dock before continuing on.

For as yet unknown reasons, the ship did not have sufficient power to manoeuvre and was carried astern (1) under the Brooklyn Bridge, crashing into the span and severely damaging three top-gallant masts on the ship.

  1. Astern = backwards

Due to circumstances as yet unknown (1) the tallship was caught in a current that pulled it backward. A current that the ship (again, for reasons as yet unknown) did not have the power to break free from. This resulted in three topgallant masts, the largest of which was more than 10m (33 feet) taller than the bridge the ship was being dragged under, snapping off.

  1. investigations are being conducted

This resulted in dozens of crew members being flung off the spars, being saved from the icy waters below only by their safety rigging. It was noted with a little surprise that none of the crew actually needed to be rescued from the water.

This accident was all the more tragic due to one of the rituals of this ship. As the ship enters and leaves Port the crew members scale the ships rigging and take places standing upon the ships spars. They then sing what appears to be a naval battle hymn as the ship departs.

The moment the masts struck the bridge.
Cadets were thrown from their perches.
100 feet above the decks

Chaos erupts

Pedestrians view from the bridge

Crew members hanging from the masts.

The aftermath

Of the 277 people aboard, the Mexican Navy has reported that 22 people were injured, 11 of them critically.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters on Sunday that tragically two crew members perished in the incident when they fell from the masts. Rocío Nahle García, the governor of Veracruz has identified one of the victims of Saturday’s training ship crash as cadet América Yamilet Sánchez from Xalapa, Veracruz and the other being independently identified as 21 year old cadet Adal Jair Marcos originally from San Mateo del Mar, in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca.

On behalf of myself and the Perth Chapter of the Friends of Mexico Society our prayers go out to the families of those who tragically passed away living the life of their dreams. We also extend our condolences to those injured in the accident, their families, and to the Country of Mexico. This is a great loss.

References

News Reports

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