Mexican Navy Ship Returns After Brooklyn Bridge Tragedy

Cozumel, Mexico — The Mexican Navy's training vessel, the Buque Escuela Cuauhtémoc, is approaching the waters of the Mexican Caribbean and is scheduled to arrive in Cozumel on Sunday. This arrival follows an accident in New York that resulted in deceased crew members and seriously injured personnel.

Satellite monitoring through electronic platforms, such as Marine Traffic, positions the vessel already in the Gulf of Mexico, north of the Yucatan Peninsula, approximately 150 kilometers in the maritime zone north of Cancún. The last report from Marine Traffic indicated that it had completed 96 percent of its journey, nearly a month after setting sail in international waters.

In the coming hours, its entry into the waters of the Caribbean Sea is expected as it heads for Cozumel, having departed from New York on October 4.

On May 17, upon its arrival in New York City, the Training Ship Cuauhtémoc collided with the Brooklyn Bridge, resulting in the deaths of two people: a sailor and a cadet from the Heroic Naval Military School.

Following its repair, the decision was made to return to Mexico. According to official information, it will dock on Sunday at the Punta Langosta cruise ship pier on the island of Cozumel, where it will remain until November 7.

The vessel is a frequent visitor to the "Isla de las Golondrinas," one of the most important ports for the cruise industry worldwide, and it will be there that it will once again touch Mexican soil after the fatal accident that shocked the entire country.

In a press release dated September 20, the Mexican Navy Secretariat (Secretaría de Marina Armada de México) reported that the correct functioning of the Ship Control (navigation) system, in both normal and emergency modes, had been verified.

"The tests of the Auxiliary Propulsion System were carried out, both forward and backward, at different revolutions. Likewise, links for the External Communications Equipment were consolidated, and the resistance of its Masts and Rigging, transverse and longitudinal strength, was confirmed; that is, the correct functioning of its sail propulsion system," the armed institute stated.