Cargo Ship Sinks in Hurricane Joaquin, Crew Missing at Sea

A desperate search is underway for the crew of the cargo ship El Faro.

A crew of 33 people were transporting 391 shipping containers when their ship lost power with the category 4 Hurricane Joaquin coming straight for them according to an associated press article by Jason Dearen and Jennifer Kay posted on ABC30.com.

By all reports, the ship was completely lost to the 140-mph winds and 50-foot waves.

Hope is still being held out that the crew, composed of 28 Americans and 5 Poland natives, have survived and will be found. The article mentioned above describes the search:

“We are still looking for survivors or any signs of life,” [Capt. Mark] Fedor said at a news conference near Miami. “We’re not looking for the vessel any longer.”

Three Coast Guard cutters, two C-130 aircraft, helicopters, commercial tugboats and a U.S. Navy plane were searching across a wide expanse of Atlantic Ocean near Crooked Island in the Bahamas. Fedor said a heavily damaged lifeboat from the El Faro was discovered, but it had no people or signs of life. The ship had two lifeboats capable of holding 43 people each.

One of the crew members perished, a body having been found in a debris field near the last known location of the container ship, according to the article:

The body, which Fedor said was “unidentifiable,” was discovered in a survival suit, but no other human remains or survivors were immediately located.

This tragedy occurred late last week when the El Faro was traveling from Jacksonville, Florida to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Many, including family of the crew and some who work in the maritime business have questioned why this ship was even risking sailing during the hurricane.

A CNN article by Holly Yan reports how the voyage originally seemed safe, but shifting weather forecasts made it appear more and more perilous after the ship was en route:

The forecast changed significantly the day El Faro left port, CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller said. 

That morning, Joaquin was forecast to be a tropical storm whose possible paths would not interfere with El Faro’s route. Near midday, the forecast was still for a tropical storm, but moving closer to the ship’s path.

At 5 p.m., the forecast showed that Joaquin would reach hurricane strength and that the ship’s path would take it straight into the track of the storm.

El Faro left the port of Jacksonville about 8 p.m. Tuesday, according to Marinetraffic.com.

Still, it appeared there was confidence the El Faro would stay clear of the tropical storm turned hurricane’s path until the ship unexpectedly lost power:

The president and CEO of the ship owner, Tote Services Inc., told The Associated Press that the captain had planned to move ahead of Joaquin — with room to spare.

“Regrettably, he suffered a mechanical problem with his main propulsion system, which left him in the path of the storm,” Phil Greene told the AP. 

“We do not know when his engine problems began to occur, nor the reasons for his engine problems.”

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the loss of the El Faro. The investigation should look into the causes of the ship’s power losses, the decisions and procedures that ultimately put it at sea in the path of a hurricane, and how to avoid such tragedies in the future.

First Coast News reports:

The Coast Guard will participate in the NTSB investigation, however, it is separate from Coast Guard’s search and rescue efforts.

“We will be looking at factors involving safety on the El Faro so that this doesn’t happen again,” Dinh-Zarr said.

Dinh-Zarr says the large debris field poses a big challenge for investigations, as well as the depth of the ocean.

The depth where the Coast Guard says they believe the vessel went down is 15,000 feet.

Losing a ship, its cargo, and–most importantly–its crew is a terrible loss. To think it may have been preventable is worse. How did this happen? Why did this happen? Could it have been prevented? A report can be expected from the NTSB.

The names of the missing crew have not been released by the ship owner, but some family of crew members have broken the silence about their missing loved ones while awaiting news.

Source: Ocean