WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Transportation Safety Board released additional information on the sinking of El Faro.
El Faro was a container ship that sank in the Atlantic Ocean in early October with 33 crewmembers on board. The ship was on its way to San Juan, Puerto Rico when it got caught in the path of Hurricane Joaquin.
El Faro passed its annual inspection in Puerto Rico in March. In June, an American Bureau of Shipping surveyor tested the main auxiliary and emergency systems and found them to be "satisfactory."
As previously reported, TOTE Maritime planned to remove the ship from its current route to the Pacific Northwest. TOTE had begun to modify the boat right up to the sinking.
In September, TOTE received permission from the U.S. Coast Guard to shut down one of the boilers so it could be inspected. The company that inspected the boiler recommended servicing both boilers during the planned dry dock period in November.
"Whatever it is they [NTSB] found was not significant enough to prevent them [from leaving]," said Rod Sullivan, a maritime attorney based in Jacksonville. "But they were clearly recommending an overhaul of the boilers."
The NTSB report issued Tuesday said at about 18 hours after departing from Jacksonville El Faro Captain Michael Davidson emailed a company safety official that he intended to take a route south of the hurricane and about 65 miles from the hurricane's center. Less than 24 hours later, the ship's last reported position the ship was about 20 miles from the edge of the eye of the hurricane. The National Hurricane Center predicted just hours earlier seas of 30 feet with wind gusts increasing to over 128 mph.
"I think what the captain was saying is that, 'On my intended course, I believe I will pass 65 miles south of the hurricane,'" Sullivan said. "That was an incorrect assessment."
Davidson used a satellite phone at 7 a.m. on Oct. 1 to tell TOTE’s emergency call center that the boat had a marine emergency. He reported that there was a hull breach, a scuttle had blown open, and that there was water in one of the ship’s holds. er 3. Davidson also relayed that El Faro had lost its main propulsion unit, and that the ship’s engineers could not get it restored.
Two different families against the owners of the cargo ship have filed two lawsuits. The goal is to hold the defense accountable for their role in El Faro's sinking.
The law firm representing the family of Jeremie Riehm said the crew was set in an antiquated cargo ship directly into extreme weather.
The search continues for the ship's wreckage itself. The ship's voyage data recorder will submit pings for around 30 days, giving searchers only a few days until the VDR's battery is dead.
"The ping is 15,000 feet deep, [and the] the sensing device has to get below the 1,000 foot therma climb," Sullivan said. "[It] needs to be within 1,000 feet of the bottom in order to pick up this ping.
"I think people need to be prepared for the fact that even though the Navy has got its best equipment out there, it may not get out there in time to rescue the VDR."
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