The Mexican Marine Seaste have prepared a high-flying farewell display before the deadly crash of the Brooklyn Bridge

A group of Mexican sailors harnessed themselves to the towering masts of their ship docked beneath the Manhattan skyline Saturday night, preparing to proudly stand in unison on their vessel’s beams as they sailed out of New York Harbor.

It’s a traditional performance put on by the crew of the Cuauhtémoc, a 43-year-old Mexican navy ship, whenever they enter or leave a port.

But those sailors likely would have avoided scaling the ship’s roughly 147-foot-tall masts had they known what would happen next.

NYPD officials said they believe the Cuauhtémoc lost power as it departed, and strong tides and winds sent it drifting up the East River. Around 8:20 p.m., the ship struck the Brooklyn Bridge, which has a clearance of about 127 feet above the water. The top parts of the ship’s masts snapped, and videos from the scene show several sailors dangling perilously from ropes while the vessel careened towards Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Mexican Navy officials reported two people died from the crash and another 22 were injured, 11 of them critically. The officials said the ship carried a crew of 277 sailors.

One of the victims who died was identified as cadet América Yamilet Sánchez by Veracruz Gov. Rocío Nahle García, who expressed condolences on social media Sunday.

“I deeply regret the passing of Veracruz cadet América Yamilet Sánchez,” Nahle wrote on X. “My love, support, and solidarity go out to her family.”

Representatives from the city Office of Emergency Management said preliminary information found that the tall sailing ship was scheduled to depart New York Harbor to the south and stop in Bay Ridge to refuel before heading through the Narrows and onto Iceland, the next leg of its journey.

Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York said during a news conference Sunday that a key failsafe wasn’t in place. He noted tugboats usually assist ships as they sail in and out of New York Harbor, but said one wasn’t in place to help the Cuauhtémoc before it unmoored.

“At the time of the crash, the tides and wind were blowing up river, thus requiring the vessel to use its organic power or the assistance of a tug. The vessel did not use a tugboat’s assistance,” said Schumer. “Usually very often there is a tugboat before to help him get out, especially on a sailing ship.”

Schumer said videos from the incident show a tugboat near the ship around the time of the incident, but that boat was too late and trying to catch up to help the Cuauhtémoc after it had already started to drift in the wrong direction.