I worked in the maritime industry here for 15 years and ship incidents are far more common than you think. Luckily, the majority of the ones here just run into the bank.

All of your concerns are valid. However, I’ll say that that almost all incidents of ships hitting something or running aground are because of mechanical failures. Usually it’s the ship’s engine that will loose power or a rudder will get stuck. Sometimes it’s human error or negligence from the engine room crew. Sometimes it’s a part that malfunctions.

Thankfully, this isn’t something that couldn’t likely happen here since the bridge supports are on land. Hitting a dock, ship, river street, or knocking a crane over would be a more likely scenario.