St. Petersburg, Fla.-A reoccurrence of the 1980 tragedy that killed 35 people in the nation’s worst bridge accident was avoided March 28 when a harbor pilot was able to maneuver a disabled freighter hauling 10,000 mt of phosphate away from the main span of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. According to local media reports, the pilot, Tobias Rose, said the steering on the vessel, Antilles II, malfunctioned about 2,000 yards from the bridge, but he was able to maneuver to a sandbar off the shipping channel and run aground before reaching the bridge. In the 1980 collision, the southbound main span was struck during heavy weather, sending 35 people plunging to their deaths. A phosphate source said the boat was carrying MAP to Latin America and had been loaded at the Eastern Terminal. The bridge was closed to vehicular traffic for about two hours early Wednesday morning, and a group of tug boats pulled the freighter off the sandbar and took it to the Port of Manatee for repairs and inspection.
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