It’s been one year since El Faro sank in Hurricane Joaquin while traveling from Jacksonville to Puerto Rico, killing all 33 people on board. Now, two ships owned and operated by the same companies are on that route as Hurricane Matthew heads north from the Caribbean.
Action News Jax partner News 104.5 WOKV has been tracking the movement of TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico's Perla Del Caribe and Isla Bella since Matthew became a formal system last week and continually intensified. Now, the storm has made landfall in Haiti as a powerful Category 4, and is forecast to continue north.
As Matthew was building strength, the Isla Bella left Jacksonville September 30 and arrived in San Juan October 3. The Perla Del Caribe traveled from San Juan to Jacksonville- it left Friday October 1 and arrived October 3. WOKV asked TOTE whether there was consideration to change those routes at the time or extra preparation on board because of the potential for bad weather. The statement we received in response to the inquiry only broadly said the mariners will be able to handle the weather.
“Our crews are trained to deal with unfolding weather situations and are prepared to respond to emerging situations while at sea. TOTE Services has great confidence in its highly experienced officers,” the statement from TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico says.
On Tuesday, TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico’s ship tracking website- which we were referred to relating to questions about ship departures- shows the Perla Del Caribe has left Jacksonville for San Juan while the Isla Bella has left to travel the reverse route. We reached out again with the same questions about the ship preparations, and a statement we received expanded on the discretion on board.
“Our Captains have control and authority to alter course for any purpose, weather, crew illness, or to assist another ship at sea,” the statement says, adding that TOTE’s officers are “currently adjusting sailing schedules accordingly.”
The statement adds that the Coast Guard has issued advisories for certain commercial vessels and barges to plan to depart port ahead of the storm. The port of Jacksonville was not placed under advisory until Tuesday late morning, with the Jacksonville remaining “open with no restrictions” at this time, according to the Coast Guard
TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico’s ship tracking website further shows the Isla Bella is scheduled to leave Jacksonville once again for Puerto Rico on Friday.
Both ships are new Marlin class vessels. The Isla Bella entered the Puerto Rico trade route in November 2015 while the Perla Del Caribe entered service in early 2016, according to TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico's website.
El Faro was traveling the Jacksonville to Puerto Rico route while heavily loaded with cargo when it lost propulsion and took on water. The ship then encountered Category 4 Hurricane Joaquin and sank October 1, 2015, killing all 33 on board.
The NTSB and Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation have both been investigating the factors that contributed to the sinking. The public hearing portion of the investigation so far has found El Faro had outdated weather forecasting data, that cargo lashing schemes were not consistently followed by the books at the time, and other questions. The first hearing session further raised questions about whether the Captain of El Faro was able to unilaterally change the route to an alternate in order to avoid the storm, without getting approval. Another public hearing session will take place in the coming months, during which investigators will focus on data that was recently recovered from the ship’s Voyage Data Recorder.