Posted on 12/13/2017 8:26:54 PM PST by rockinqsranch
Captain’s Decisions, Shipping Company’s Poor Safety Oversight Led to Sinking, the NTSB Says
The deadliest shipping disaster involving a U.S.-flagged vessel in more than 30 years was caused by a captain’s failure to avoid sailing into a hurricane despite numerous opportunities to route a course away from the hazardous weather, the National Transportation Safety Board announced during a public meeting Tuesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at gcaptain.com ...
They finally figured that out?
Yep.
Too much water.
Funny thing! El Faro means “the Lighthouse” in Spanish.
This disaster was a big news story here in Maine.
Several of the young men and women who died were graduates of The Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine.
A heartbreaking event.
Says they still possibly could have survived in spite of being in the storm.
“Although El Faro and its crew should never have found themselves in such treacherous weather, that ship was not destined to sink,” said Sumwalt. “If the crew had more information about the status of the hatches, how to best manage the flooding situation, and the ship’s vulnerabilities when in a sustained list, the accident might have been prevented.”
The crew was afraid to challenge the captain. That’s contributed to many airline disasters, too.
Per the excellent article
The transcript is one of the most gripping things published this year, and yet it feels uncomfortably voyeuristic to catch this glimpse into the last moments of these people’s lives. It’s a little like watching a snuff film. Despite an extensive search effort, no human remains from the ship’s 33 crewmembers have been recovered. One lifeboat was recovered, badly damaged, while the other was eventually found on the sea floor, with one half shorn off. Even finding the audio recording was difficult.
I moved to Maryland in 2009. My office is near the harbor. El Faro was moored for quite a long time along one of my routes home. It was such a uniquely designed ship that really didn’t appear all that seaworthy that I looked it up.
It was quite a shock to see that she had sunk.
Let me clarify, In my less than educated mind when it comes to seafaring stuff, the El Faro seemed weird and looked unseaworthy to my mind. Outside of about 30 minutes at the helm of a 90’ boat, my experience is limited to kayaks and a small Zodiac.
Since it was an old ship, it was obviously seaworthy, just not in a hurricane.
Damn, I suppose the thought of locking the Captain up and taking over the ship never crossed the crew’s mind?
I work at the company that classed this vessel.
I was told not to say the vessels name while here at work.
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