This seems like a suitable post for a Monday morning. The tide was high, the bridge was low and the ship was light. Captain Guo Lai, 48, was in command of the brand new luxury cruise liner, Pearl No 7, on her maiden voyage from the shipyard, when they passed under a suspension bridge on the Oujiang River near Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China. Or at least most of the ship made it under. The ship’s two funnels were sheared off when the clearance between the ship and the bridge turned out to be negative. The Pearl No. 7 has the capacity for 1,000 passengers and cost $44 million to build. She has now returned to the shipyard, Wenzhou Mingzhu Yacht Co., Ltd., for funnel repairs.
Pearl No. 7 Strikes Bridge in China
Thanks to David Rye and Alaric Bond for contributing to the post.