But, Couldn’t that be staged??
No. No, it could not be staged.
A ship that massive does not — even under full power — have the maneuverability.
As I’ve read more, the Pilot gave orders to drop anchor in a final desperate attempt to stay clear of the bridge, and it appears the more rapid rotation of the ship seen just prior to the bridge strike, is the ship pivoting about that dropped anchor under the influence of the river current.
What’s principally in evidence if you watch the longer video is that the lights throughout the entire ship blackout, comeback on, blackout again, then come back on again — there was a major electrical issue affecting the entire vessel many seconds before the bridge strike.
The electrical outage would have prevented any of the Pilot’s orders from reaching vital control stations aboard: the engine room, the anchor locker — nobody in these critical roles could receive direction from the Pilot during the electrical outages seen on the video. When the lights are out, the Pilot cannot give direction via any electrically-dependent system.