The Nation - News from May 4, 1987

A Polish freighter struck a tower of the Sidney Lanier Bridge at Brunswick, Ga., causing an estimated $3 million in damage and closing the structure for up to 21 weeks, authorities said. U.S. District Judge Anthony Alaimo issued an order allowing authorities to hold the ship, the Ziemia Bialostocka, to force its owners to post bond sufficient to pay for the damage, a state Transportation Department spokesman said. There were no reports of injury on the bridge or on the ship. The ship appeared undamaged. In November, 1972, a ship struck the same bridge, killing 10 people in cars that were sent plunging into the Brunswick River.