Tag Archives: El Faro
Coast Guard: Captain’s mistakes led to El Faro sinking
The U.S. Coast Guard has concluded mistakes by the captain of the El Faro led to the sinking of the cargo ship and the deaths of all 33 crew members in 2015. The Coast Guard’s final 199-page report was released on Sunday, two years to the day after the 800-foot vessel sunk near Crooked Island in the Bahamas. Capt. Michael Davidson sailed through rather than around Hurricane Joaquin and “failed to carry out his responsibilities and duties as captain of the vessel during the last eight hours before it sank,” the report concluded. click here to read the story 17:53
Coast Guard seeks to punish El Faro owner in final report issued Sunday – The U.S. Coast Guard released a full report Sunday click here to read the story with report
Into the Storm: The True Story of a Harrowing Ocean Rescue
The plane was cold and the engines were loud inside the cabin. Ben Cournia slipped in foam earplugs to drown out the noise. Tendrils of light were just starting to lace the morning clouds as the C-130 Hercules, gleaming white with the U.S. Coast Guard’s telltale orange bands near the cockpit and tail, climbed above Air Station Clearwater into the sky above Florida, heading south, then east. The heavy-browed Minnesotan glanced around the cabin, where guys were settling in for the three-hour flight to what had to be one of the loneliest outposts of the Coast Guard: a glorified sandbar otherwise known as Great Inagua Island, Bahamas. Their home for the last couple of weeks of September 2015. Cournia, 36 and married ten years, palmed his phone and looked at the last text from his wife: “Be safe,” she wrote. Video’s, Read the story here 15:21
El Faro Wreck Missing Bridge and Voyage Data Recorder
A major disappointment announced today in the investigation into the El Faro sinking with the NTSB now saying that the wreck of the ship was discovered with the navigation bridge missing and no sign of the Voyage Data Recorder (VDR). A salvage team onboard the contracted has been using the Curve 21 remotely operated vehicle to confirm and document the wreckage initially found Saturday off the Bahamas at a depth of 15,000 feet was in fact the missing El Faro. Read the rest here 07:39
NTSB: Wreckage Believed to be Missing Ship El Faro Found
A search team on board a U.S. Navy tug has found what they believe is the wreckage of the missing American cargo ship El Faro in the search area off the Bahamas, the NTSB said in an update late Saturday. The vessel was located at a depth of about 15,000 feet in the vicinity of the last known position. The NTSB said the target identified is consistent with a 790-foot cargo ship, which from sonar images appears to be in an upright position and in one piece. Read the rest here 09:25
NTSB Provides New Details from El Faro Investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday issued an update on its continuing investigation into the sinking of the El Faro cargo ship in the Atlantic Ocean near the Bahamas. Unlike the NTSB’s first report on El Faro investigation, which provided little to no new information on the accident, this new update offers a wealth of new information on a number of key areas in the investigation, including the safety and maintenance of the vessel, the ship’s propulsion, the ill-fated voyage and weather forecast, the last communication from the ship,,, Read the rest here 08:41
Search for El Faro Crew Continues, Hopes Fading
Responders continue the hunt for possible survivors from the missing cargo ship El Faro, which is believed to have sunk during Hurricane Joaquin. As of Tuesday night, crews have searched some 172,257 square nautical miles while scanning in the vicinity of the ship’s last known position 35 nautical miles northeast of Crooked Islands, Bahamas. A decision on how much longer the search will continue could be announced on Wednesday afternoon, the Coast Guard said. Officials acknowledged there is scant chance of finding survivors given El Faro disappeared in high winds and seas up to 50 feet. Read the rest here 12:36
One body found, empty lifeboat located in search for crew of El Faro
The Coast Guard said it found the body of one crew member amid several survival suits floating amid debris from the El Faro, and crews also found one of the ship’s lifeboats, but it had no people or signs of life. The ship had two lifeboats, and each can hold 43 people. Chief Petty Officer Jon-Paul Rios said the Coast Guard and the owner of the 790-foot container ship El Faro concluded that the vessel sank after debris, containers and an oil sheen were found. ‘‘We’re definitely still looking for survivors at this time,’’ Rios said. ‘‘It’s still a very active search and rescue operation.’’ Read the rest here 11:01
