NTSB releases final El Faro report

El Faro Wreckage 16x9.fc04df

The following is an excerpt from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report, adopted on Dec. 12, on the sinking of the cargo ship El Faro:

(WASHINGTON) — On Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015, SS El Faro, a 40-year-old cargo ship owned by TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico and operated by TOTE Services Inc., was on a regular route from Jacksonville, Fla., to San Juan, Puerto Rico, when it foundered and sank in the Atlantic Ocean about 40 nautical miles northeast of Acklins and Crooked Island, Bahamas. The ship had sailed directly into the path of Hurricane Joaquin, carrying a crew of 33, including five Polish contract repair workers. All those aboard perished in the sinking.

As part of its accident investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board led a joint effort with the U.S. Navy, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the National Science Foundation to locate the ship’s wreckage and retrieve its voyage data recorder (VDR). The VDR was pulled from 15,250 feet below the ocean surface in August 2016 during the third undersea mission and yielded more than 26 hours of parametric data and audio files.

The NTSB’s accident investigation identified the following safety issues: captain’s actions, use of noncurrent weather information, late decision to muster the crew, ineffective bridge resource management, inadequate company oversight, company’s safety management system, flooding in cargo holds, loss of propulsion, downflooding through ventilation closures, need for damage control plan, and lack of appropriate survival craft. The NTSB made safety recommendations to the U.S. Coast Guard; the Federal Communications Commission; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; the International Association of Classification Societies; the American Bureau of Shipping; Furuno Electric Co. Ltd.; and TOTE Services Inc.

Click here to read the report.

By Professional Mariner Staff