presence
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El Faro, RO/RO ship underway to Puerto Rico, likely lost with all hands
- Thread starter Anti Federalist
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timosman
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Devil's Triangle - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bermuda_Triangle ?
Anti Federalist
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Body found during search for missing El Faro cargo ship
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...-el-faro-cargo-ship-us-coast-guard/ar-AAf7qoA
MIAMI, Oct 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard on Monday said its crews had found a body and an empty, heavily damaged lifeboat in their search for the cargo ship El Faro, believed to have sunk after going missing off the Bahamas in Hurricane Joaquin.
Rescuers are no longer looking for the ship, which sent a distress call four days ago after getting caught in the powerful storm's ferocious winds and 50-foot seas, Coast Guard Captain Mark Fedor said.
He said aircrews continued to search for the missing crew - 28 U.S. citizens and five Polish nationals - but acknowledged they had faced tough odds in the storm's dangerous conditions.
"We are still looking for survivors, any signs of life," he told reporters in Miami.
Crews were unable to identify the body, discovered wearing a survival suit on Sunday, Fedor said.
The recovered lifeboat was one of two from the ship, each with a capacity for 43 people.
On Sunday, the Coast Guard spotted two large debris fields littered with items identified as coming from El Faro, including styrofoam, cargo doors and 55-gallon drums.
The 735-foot (224-meter) container ship had left Jacksonville, Florida on Tuesday, for San Juan, Puerto Rico.
On Thursday, it reported losing propulsion, listing and taking on water after sailing into the path of Joaquin off Crooked Island in the Bahamas, according to the owner, Tote Maritime Puerto Rico.
The Coast Guard said the ship had not been heard from since it sent a distress call Thursday morning.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...-el-faro-cargo-ship-us-coast-guard/ar-AAf7qoA
MIAMI, Oct 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard on Monday said its crews had found a body and an empty, heavily damaged lifeboat in their search for the cargo ship El Faro, believed to have sunk after going missing off the Bahamas in Hurricane Joaquin.
Rescuers are no longer looking for the ship, which sent a distress call four days ago after getting caught in the powerful storm's ferocious winds and 50-foot seas, Coast Guard Captain Mark Fedor said.
He said aircrews continued to search for the missing crew - 28 U.S. citizens and five Polish nationals - but acknowledged they had faced tough odds in the storm's dangerous conditions.
"We are still looking for survivors, any signs of life," he told reporters in Miami.
Crews were unable to identify the body, discovered wearing a survival suit on Sunday, Fedor said.
The recovered lifeboat was one of two from the ship, each with a capacity for 43 people.
On Sunday, the Coast Guard spotted two large debris fields littered with items identified as coming from El Faro, including styrofoam, cargo doors and 55-gallon drums.
The 735-foot (224-meter) container ship had left Jacksonville, Florida on Tuesday, for San Juan, Puerto Rico.
On Thursday, it reported losing propulsion, listing and taking on water after sailing into the path of Joaquin off Crooked Island in the Bahamas, according to the owner, Tote Maritime Puerto Rico.
The Coast Guard said the ship had not been heard from since it sent a distress call Thursday morning.
Anti Federalist
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The EPIRB transmitter is self contained and floats.
It is supposed to self release when a vessel sinks, but damage, flotsam, and any number of restrictions can cause it to get hung up.
If it was hung up on the ship as it sunk, it would have been crushed around 1000 feet or so, preventing it from ever surfacing.
Water depths in the area range from 5000 to 20,000 feet.
XNavyNuke
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Video from today's USCG press conference can be found here:
https://www.dvidshub.net/video/426665/el-faro-press-conference#.VhMaR2K9KSN
XNN
https://www.dvidshub.net/video/426665/el-faro-press-conference#.VhMaR2K9KSN
XNN
Anti Federalist
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Coast Guard ends search for 33 missing crew members
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/us/article/Coast-Guard-abandons-search-for-33-missing-crew-6556753.php
Curt Anderson and Tony Winton, Associated Press
Updated 5:10 pm, Wednesday, October 7, 2015
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The Coast Guard officially ended its search Wednesday for the missing crew members from a U.S. cargo ship that sank off the Bahamas during Hurricane Joaquin.
Petty Officer Mark Barney said the search for survivors from the El Faro ended at 7 p.m.
Earlier Wednesday, the Coast Guard broke the news to grieving family members that it was abandoning the search for the 33 mariners and investigators turned their attention to finding the vessel's data recorder 3 miles down at the bottom of the sea.
An intensive search by air and sea over tens of thousands of square miles turned up one unidentified body in a survival suit and a heavily damaged lifeboat but no sign of survivors from the 790-foot El Faro, which was last heard from nearly from a week ago as it was being tossed around in rough seas.
By preparing to end its search at sunset, the Coast Guard all but confirmed family members' worst fears — that all hands were lost. On board were 28 crew members from the U.S. and five from Poland.
"Any decision to suspend a search is painful," Coast Guard Capt. Mark Fedor said. "They did all they could."
Even before the announcement, hopes of finding anyone alive were fading.
"The ship went down. And there's no questioning the outcome of that. The ship has gone down, took everybody with it. There's really no speculation to be made," said Mary Shevory, mother of crew member Mariette Wright.
Robert Green, father of LaShawn Rivera, held out hope despite the Coast Guard decision: "Miracles do happen, and it's God's way only. I'm prayerful, hopeful and still optimistic."
President Barack Obama promised the "full support of the U.S. government" as officials investigate the sinking of the cargo ship. In a statement issued Wednesday evening, Obama said the families of the crew members lost at sea deserve answers, and those who work at sea must be kept safe.
The El Faro went down in 15,000 feet of water east of the Bahamas last Thursday after losing propulsion while attempting to outrun Joaquin along the ship's regular route from Jacksonville to Puerto Rico, according to ship owner Tote Maritime and the Coast Guard. The captain reported the ship was listing and taking on water through an open hatch. Then transmissions ceased.
The key to the mystery of what caused the ship to stall and sink may be in the voyage data recorder, similar to the "black box" on an airliner. The device, presumably pinging away in the blackness and crushing pressure on the sea floor, has a battery life of 30 days after it hits the water.
Assuming the device can be located, the National Transportation Safety Board will work with the Coast Guard, Navy and other agencies to devise a way to bring it up, probably using a remote-controlled, unmanned submersible capable of diving great depths.
Among the questions raised in the wake of the tragedy: What caused the ship to lose power? Did pressure to deliver the cargo on time play a role in the captain's decision to press ahead? Was the ship's advanced age — more than 40 years old — a factor? And was the mechanical trouble caused by work that was being done in the engine room at the time?
The recorder, required for all large ships since 2002, would contain radio communications, command discussions on the bridge, the ship's speed and heading, the condition of its hull, wind speed and radar readings. Generally the recorders retain information from the 12 hours before they enter the water.
"We want to find every bit of information that we possibly can," NTSB vice chair Bella Dinh-Zarr said. "We will be here as long as it takes."
The ship left Jacksonville on Sept. 29 while Joaquin was still a tropical storm. Joaquin quickly developed into a powerful Category 4 hurricane, but Tote officials say its captain, Michael Davidson, had an acceptable plan to bypass the storm that would have worked had the ship not lost power amid 140 mph winds and 50-foot waves.
The NTSB said a key part of the investigation is learning how to prevent similar tragedies. Family members said they hope so, too.
"I am hoping other companies will take a good look at when they're going to ship out, when they're going to set sail," Shevory said. "And not do it with a storm coming that can potentially become a hurricane."
(Tell that to local government, that often will force a ship out to sea in the face of a hurricane, rather than allow it to remain moored in harbor. - AF)
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/us/article/Coast-Guard-abandons-search-for-33-missing-crew-6556753.php
Curt Anderson and Tony Winton, Associated Press
Updated 5:10 pm, Wednesday, October 7, 2015
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The Coast Guard officially ended its search Wednesday for the missing crew members from a U.S. cargo ship that sank off the Bahamas during Hurricane Joaquin.
Petty Officer Mark Barney said the search for survivors from the El Faro ended at 7 p.m.
Earlier Wednesday, the Coast Guard broke the news to grieving family members that it was abandoning the search for the 33 mariners and investigators turned their attention to finding the vessel's data recorder 3 miles down at the bottom of the sea.
An intensive search by air and sea over tens of thousands of square miles turned up one unidentified body in a survival suit and a heavily damaged lifeboat but no sign of survivors from the 790-foot El Faro, which was last heard from nearly from a week ago as it was being tossed around in rough seas.
By preparing to end its search at sunset, the Coast Guard all but confirmed family members' worst fears — that all hands were lost. On board were 28 crew members from the U.S. and five from Poland.
"Any decision to suspend a search is painful," Coast Guard Capt. Mark Fedor said. "They did all they could."
Even before the announcement, hopes of finding anyone alive were fading.
"The ship went down. And there's no questioning the outcome of that. The ship has gone down, took everybody with it. There's really no speculation to be made," said Mary Shevory, mother of crew member Mariette Wright.
Robert Green, father of LaShawn Rivera, held out hope despite the Coast Guard decision: "Miracles do happen, and it's God's way only. I'm prayerful, hopeful and still optimistic."
President Barack Obama promised the "full support of the U.S. government" as officials investigate the sinking of the cargo ship. In a statement issued Wednesday evening, Obama said the families of the crew members lost at sea deserve answers, and those who work at sea must be kept safe.
The El Faro went down in 15,000 feet of water east of the Bahamas last Thursday after losing propulsion while attempting to outrun Joaquin along the ship's regular route from Jacksonville to Puerto Rico, according to ship owner Tote Maritime and the Coast Guard. The captain reported the ship was listing and taking on water through an open hatch. Then transmissions ceased.
The key to the mystery of what caused the ship to stall and sink may be in the voyage data recorder, similar to the "black box" on an airliner. The device, presumably pinging away in the blackness and crushing pressure on the sea floor, has a battery life of 30 days after it hits the water.
Assuming the device can be located, the National Transportation Safety Board will work with the Coast Guard, Navy and other agencies to devise a way to bring it up, probably using a remote-controlled, unmanned submersible capable of diving great depths.
Among the questions raised in the wake of the tragedy: What caused the ship to lose power? Did pressure to deliver the cargo on time play a role in the captain's decision to press ahead? Was the ship's advanced age — more than 40 years old — a factor? And was the mechanical trouble caused by work that was being done in the engine room at the time?
The recorder, required for all large ships since 2002, would contain radio communications, command discussions on the bridge, the ship's speed and heading, the condition of its hull, wind speed and radar readings. Generally the recorders retain information from the 12 hours before they enter the water.
"We want to find every bit of information that we possibly can," NTSB vice chair Bella Dinh-Zarr said. "We will be here as long as it takes."
The ship left Jacksonville on Sept. 29 while Joaquin was still a tropical storm. Joaquin quickly developed into a powerful Category 4 hurricane, but Tote officials say its captain, Michael Davidson, had an acceptable plan to bypass the storm that would have worked had the ship not lost power amid 140 mph winds and 50-foot waves.
The NTSB said a key part of the investigation is learning how to prevent similar tragedies. Family members said they hope so, too.
"I am hoping other companies will take a good look at when they're going to ship out, when they're going to set sail," Shevory said. "And not do it with a storm coming that can potentially become a hurricane."
(Tell that to local government, that often will force a ship out to sea in the face of a hurricane, rather than allow it to remain moored in harbor. - AF)
Anti Federalist
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Anti Federalist
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No.
TheNewYorker
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Dumb question, probably. Why would they sail into a hurricane?
Anti Federalist
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Pressure to be on time with millions of dollars of cargo.
Pressure to remain on course and not deviate, which would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra fuel costs.
Poor weather forecasting, which initially showed the storm moving north, the captain assuming that he would be able to safely dodge south.
Mechanical failure which left them exposed to the height of the storm with no way to get out.
Had it been me, I would have re-routed through the Florida straights, west of the storm.
timosman
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So you are saying - error of judgement.
Danke
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This why I think a strong union can be useful. I know many here hate unions, but I would be reluctant to fly on a non Union carrier. I can refuse to take a route or aircraft thT I do not feel is safe. And my Union backs me up, so I do not have to worry about losing my job because of my decision.
Non Union carriers do not have such protections. Some get contracts on the coatails of the Union carriers that have paved the way with dues spend to influence how the laws are written.
Anti Federalist
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Anti Federalist
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Yup, basically.
Danke
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Well, how strong is their Union as in refusing to take it in bad weather without repercussions?
Anti Federalist
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Every company out there now has some sort of "Stop Work" policy, but making it stick can be dicey.
Just ask the master of Deepwater Horizon.
I doubt the master of the El Faro thought that the situation was grave enough to drop the Stop Work bomb, until it was too late.
How far the union will go in backing you up is another issue.
If I read right, that the officers were MEBA, they have a pretty good track record of backing up their members, better than some others.
Ronin Truth
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+1 for the Triangle.
acptulsa
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Is it just me, or has 'an acceptable plan to bypass the storm' already completely failed to 'work' by the time the ship encounters 140 mph winds and fifty foot swells?
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