Posted on 10/02/2015 4:50:41 PM PDT by artichokegrower
The U.S. Coast Guard has launched a search for a U.S.-flagged containership with 33 crewmembers aboard reported to be caught in Hurricane Joaquin, near Crooked Island, Bahamas.
The Coast Guard reported Friday that at approximately 7:30 a.m. Thursday, watchstanders at the Coast Guard Atlantic Area command center in Portsmouth, Virginia, received an Inmarsat satellite notification stating the 735-foot cargo ship El Faro was beset by Hurricane Joaquin while en route to San Juan, Puerto Rico, from Jacksonville, Florida. The notification said that the ship had lost propulsion and had a 15-degree list.
(Excerpt) Read more at gcaptain.com ...
Search has been suspended till first light Saturday morning.
Last position
http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/oldshipid:454389/oldmmsi:368208000/olddate:lastknown#
There are a good number of US flagged and US crewed cargo ships in operation. Most carry cargo between US ports and part of what is known as the Jones Act. The Jones Act was passed sometime in the early 1920’s and requires a ship carrying cargo, passengers, or oil products etc between US ports must be built in a US shipyard and crewed by US citizens. So a ship carrying iron ore from Duluth to Cleveland is covered by the Jones Act; a ship carrying iron ore from Thunder Bay, Canada to Cleveland is not.
Likewise, carrying cargo that is loaded in say Jacksonville, Fl to San Juan, Puerto Rico is also part of the Jones Act Trade.
27 US citizens and 5 Polish.
If the Captain was Polish that would explain a lot.
From what I was able to find on her she was built in 1975, and was refit in 2006.
She’s therefore forty years old.
My guess is down-flooding of vents due to repeated huge wave sweeps. >>> Loss of power. >>> Loss of steering. >>> Broaching.
Yep.
They won’t have to launch inflated rafts, they’ll get into a hard life boat and launch off the stern.
If they could, they would. They might be out there floating around in the covered lifeboat, but not likely, or they would hear the EPIRB pinging away.
No modern lifeboat that deploys from a ramp on the stern.
Not likely the crew were able to launch the lifeboats from those high side rails in a hurricane.
And I pray for the coasties who have to go out after them.
I just saw some video of a coast guard chopper rescuing people from a badly listing cargo ship. Looks like the the port side rails were under water. She is not long for the world. Video on the Weather Channel.
Some modern ships do have stern launch, not this one.
The lifeboats on this vessel are located what appears to be two decks below the bridge.
Cargo vessels are required that life boats on each side have a capacity for 100% of crew & passengers (limit 12 of those)
That way if the ship is listing heavily to one side, you can still launch a lifeboat(s) on the lower side and still get everyone on board.
The real trick is to lower to the water without getting smashed into the side of the ship.
The lifeboats can be controlled and lowered from within the boat, no one needs to remain on the ship.
Lifeboat engines can start while still on the ship and do not need to be in the water.
You would start the engine, lower swiftly to the water, timing to hit the swells just right, release the boat from the wire blocks by an internal release lever, steer away from the ship.
I’ve done it many times, never in an abandon ship.
So were they betting that Joaquin would fizzle out? Why were they sailing with that storm on the way?
Thanks. I suppose the Edmund Fitzgerald of Gordon Lightfoot’s song fame would be included in that group. So it would make sense that I didn’t know since the logistical management in which I’ve been involved always involved international shipping only.
That will work pretty well in a mild sea state, or with the ship listing to one side without rolling.
In giant seas, with the ship rolling heavily, good luck.
They chose.....poorly.
Dang - drove right into the teeth of a Cat 4. Why on earth?
Looking at Matts pic up thread she appears to be a RORO that was converted to a flattop to carry containers on deck too at some point
And if u look about a third down the deck from the bow it suggests to me she got stretched at some point .....notice the break in the flow....no question
Articles say she’s 30,000 ton gwt and ABS classed.....in other words a very expensive upkeep plan on her
All American citizen certified or Merchant Marine crewed......again big money
She runs consumer essentials from Jaxville to PR.....pretty quick turnaround...these ships even though older are fast
Which leads me to think they thought they could simply skirt what was then a tropical storm
Instead they bit the worst part of a cat 4 hurricane it appears with 130 mph winds and 30-40 foot rollers
Very steep and high frequency given its a hurricane and I don’t think the water there is super deep is it
Above crooked island....Maybe I’m wrong that might suggest Atlantic north of the mid bahama archipelago and that would be MSD depth
The eye was right over San Salvador at that point.....scary
But no debris yet....
It’ll be a miracle for them guys
My guess is
A...they run tight jones act schedule
B....they were loaded at port which is arguably worse than being at sea if home port took a direct hit
C...these ships move along well and nice how they can take weather but they are a might top heavy compared to break bulk or tankers or ore and grain so they catch surface wind
They are likely surfing big ass rollers and catching air under maybe a not terribly reduced rpm propeller....single screw....
Prop wigs out and now they are going only where wind and wave take them....likely to beam and then rolled over
No drogue made for these guys I’m aware of?
It’s about as bad a case scenario. Imaginable
Would cables hold all those containers?
I don’t know
If anyone has a last known long lat would be helpful
I’ve got an old lloyds registry book and she’ll be in there but I can’t find it
Her deadweight was prolly around 15,000? If gross was 30,000
Biggest ship I owned was half her size....three hold four macgregor break bulk
Same size crew
German built she had two lanes bowling....great accomodations
I’m afraid this ship is lost
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