El Faro on 'targeted list' of at-risk ships; gaps revealed in inspection protocol

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — El Faro was on a Coast Guard “targeted list” for potentially at-risk vessels under the Alternate Compliance Program, known as the ACP.

The ACP system was created by the Coast Guard in the 1990s to help streamline the commercial vessel inspection process already done by classification societies like the American Bureau of Shipping, which is a private company that inspects ships and certifies they are “in class.”

The chief of the Coast Guard Office of Commercial Vessel Compliance Policy, Capt. Kyle McAvoy, told the Marine Board of Investigation on Monday that El Faro’s placement on its annual “targeted list” was determined by factors like the vessel’s age, expired documents, deficiencies, non-conformities, etc.

But McAvoy pointed to specific issues with one or two “reportable marine casualties” regarding a mariner’s health issue which put El Faro over the threshold for vessels considered for the “targeted list.”

When an ABS representative asked McAvoy if the health issue means that mechanical issues weren’t a reason for putting El Faro on the list, McAvoy said that in order to get on the list, ships would’ve already had known concerns in other areas.

If a ship is on the list, it means that the next time it arrives to a U.S. port, it would need to be inspected by marine investigators, who would conduct a more in-depth review. The list was set to be released around the time El Faro embarked on its final voyage. The Coast Guard held the list and when the sinking was confirmed, released it with an asterisk by El Faro noting it had been lost.

Earlier in Monday’s testimony, major issues were cited in the ACP system itself. While third party companies handle the inspections it’s up to the Coast Guard to provide oversight of those inspections to make sure they are done according to regulations.

Much of the questioning focused on whether the ACP is effective.

The commanding officer of the Marine Safety Center, Capt. John Mauger, testified the program has its setbacks.

"We have identified problems in each step of the way," said Mauger.

The ABS does more than 90 percent of the inspections on behalf of the Coast Guard. The inspections are meant to hold the same weight as if the Coast Guard had done the inspections.

McAvoy said it’s “perhaps even likely” that classification societies getting paid by shipping companies could influence inspections which is why Coast Guard oversight is so important. However, Mauger said the “accountability method is not really there yet” and said the classification societies are faced with some of the same challenges they’re facing.

“[It’s] hard to change a system we are very dependent on,” said Mauger.

Right now, the accountability action is dis-enrolling a vessel from the voluntary ACP system which Mauger said would put more work on the Coast Guard. Mauger said the accountability method in place currently does not include taking penalty action against the classification society authorized to do work on the Coast Guard’s behalf.

Mauger said since he took over the Marine Safety Center, which is the Coast Guard's central technical point of review for engineering plans for commercial vessels, in April 2015 and he's noticed problems in inspection reports that should have been caught earlier in either the design or construction phase of a ship.

"[In] 2014 they had 11,000 notifications, they selected somewhere about 5 percent. We identified discrepancies in 38 percent of those plans. I don't have the numbers for 2015," said Mauger.

Mauger said El Faro was not tagged with a serious problem before leaving on its final voyage nor is there a record indicating there was a "major non-conformity" but admitted it might be due to not much oversight being done El Faro notifications.

"Our system is triggered right now on the class society notifying us that they've done work on our behalf. If they don't notify us, we don't know the work's been done and so we see that as a gap," said Mauger.

According to Mauger, ABS and other classification societies have worked on tightening the lag in reporting time from about 60 days to now about five days.

“Would you say your analysis says you've been notified of all known ABS plan reviews on El Faro on the Coast Guard's behalf?” asked Marine Board of Investigation member LCDR Mike Venturella.

“I can't say that at this time,” replied Mauger.

Other issues cited by Mauger include high turnover when it comes to experienced field marine inspectors. At times, the Marine Safety Center is tapped by the classification societies because of the “potential degradation of experience” in inspectors.

There are improvements to the ACP system in the works, including training more marine inspectors as auditors so they can inspect the actual inspection reports to make sure it follows regulations.

Tuesday’s schedule includes asking El Faro’s former chief engineer about the condition of the ship’s engineering plant.

Cox Media Group