Guanabara Bay, after the bridge accident there is an alarm: risk of impact for other ships adrift?

The incident last Monday, November 14, in which a drifting ship crashed into the

(causing traffic to be closed in both directions, fortunately without more serious consequences) may not remain an isolated case.

What some Brazilian environmental experts have underlined in the last few hours, in fact, is that the risk potential that other similar episodes may occur in the future is very high.

And this is because

, the large body of water crossed by the imposing structure (

, it is the longest in the southern hemisphere), has become "a

", as the activist denounced ecologist

, one of the founders of the NGO

, active for over thirty years in Rio de Janeiro and its surroundings.

"According to the latest available data, which are now twenty years old," Potiguara said, "about

, or what remains of them, are in the bay region.

And this constitutes a great

, for

, not to mention the problems related to the navigability of the bay and the negative impact on tourism, as well as economic losses in the fishing sector.

The impact of the large boat with the bridge, the technicians of the concessionary company of the structure found, did not compromise its stability.

But the alarm for other vessels adrift, which may collide with the pylons or the deck, raises many concerns among experts and ordinary citizens.

The Brazilian Navy is responsible for the management and responsibility of boats anchored (or possibly adrift) in Guanabara Bay: this is stated by the National Institute for the Environment, the same one that intervenes in the event of oil spills or other harmful substances for any environmental damage.

While waiting for the Brazilian Navy to respond to requests regarding a possible census or a plan to dismantle the ships present there, the NGO Baia Viva has meanwhile communicated that the

, the vessel that collided with the bridge (over 244 meters long and 42 wide), was under its own monitoring.

The environmental NGO called it "

, completely rusted".

Furthermore, it was discovered that the Navy revealed that the São Luiz had been in Guanabara since

, without however posing a risk to navigation.

In that year, among other things, the Olympics organized in Rio de Janeiro prompted the maritime authorities to dismantle some of the ships abandoned in the bay.

(GettyImages)

Brazil: Rio-Niteroi bridge, Rio de Janeiro

The longest bridge in the southern hemisphere

The long bridge that connects Rio de Janeiro to the city of Niterói joins the two banks of Guanabara, at whose western mouth is Ipanema, Copacabana and the Carioca urban agglomeration.

The infrastructure is dedicated to President

(in power between 1967 and 1969, during the military dictatorship), the one who wanted its construction.

The bridge was then

.

A little curiosity: the beginning of the works is due to the late Queen Elizabeth II who, during her state visit to Brazil in 1968, took part in the inauguration of the large construction site that was to build it.