A closer look
Because braking is more of an abstract concept when you weigh two hundred thousand tons. Massive modern cargo vessels possess so much forward momentum and inertia that hitting the brakes isn't a physical option. Even if they throw the engines in full reverse, a heavily loaded container ship moving at 24 knots might need over a dozen miles and up to half an hour to actually stop. By the time the captain spots an obstacle, it's already too late; they're just an unwilling spectator to physics.
