A former member of El Faro’s crew is speaking only with Action News Jax. He claims there were serious safety and mechanical problems months before the ship went down in Hurricane Joaquin.
Former El Faro crew member Kurt Bruer claims the ship had major problems. He alleges the ship was constantly being inspected to keep up with all of the complaints made by crew members.
Now, Bruer said he’s helping investigators piece together what happened.
“They call it survivor's guilt, I have it all the time, I think about those guys all the time,” Bruer said.
Bruer spoke on camera about the 33 crew members killed when El Faro sank last fall. He said his friends Jackie Jones and Larry Davis were on board.
Bruer said he too would have died if he hadn’t of been fired months before El Faro left Jacksonville on Sept. 29, 2015.
“They basically don’t want us to talk to the media,” Bruer said.
He showed Action News Jax’s Cole Heath documents allegedly from the ship’s owner, Tote Maritime Puerto Rico, telling employees to keep quiet.
Bruer claims issues of previous power losses at sea, boiler problems, survival suits being locked up and life boats that didn’t lower.
Investigators say El Faro lost propulsion before sinking during Hurricane Joaquin.
“40 years old, a rust bucket, it had major problems, from the engine room to the bridge of the ship,” Bruer said.
As for El Faro’s captain Michael Davidson, Bruer calls him an experienced sailor but questions some of his actions on the job.
“I just question why he would make the decision to go thru a hurricane,” Bruer said.
Bruer said he’s sat in on the Coast Guard hearings in Jacksonville. He’s now preparing a written statement for the investigators digging into the worst U.S. maritime disaster in 30 years.
Cole Heath: “To your knowledge was El Faro sea worthy?”
Bruer: “No it wasn’t. I think it should have been scrapped at least 5 years prior to the incident.”
We reached out to Tote Maritime and received the following statement:
"Out of respect for the public hearings being held by the USCG and NTSB we will not discuss anything outside of their investigation. Thank you."
Cox Media Group
