Coast Guard report: Captain's errors primary cause of El Faro sinking

[Eugene]

Source: CBS/AP

A Coast Guard report released Sunday says the primary cause of the 2015 sinking of the cargo ship El Faro, which killed all 33 aboard, was the captain underestimating the strength of a hurricane and overestimating the ship's strength.

The report said Capt. Michael Davidson should have changed the El Faro's route between Jacksonville, Florida, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, to avoid Hurricane Joaquin's 150 mph winds and when the 790-foot vessel got stuck he should have taken more aggressive measures to save it.

Speaking at a news conference in Jacksonville, Florida, Capt. Jason Neubauer also said the Coast Guard would have sought to revoke Davidson's license if he had survived.

Davidson "was ultimately responsible for the vessel, the crew and its safe navigation," said Neubauer, who chaired the investigation.

-snip-

CBS/AP October 1, 2017, 2:47 PM


Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/el-faro-captain-errors-sinking-coast-guard-report/

[SonofDonald]

1. I know the Daughter of the First Mate on the El Faro

She said it was near impossible to get any answers from the company after the ship went down, from what I understood nearly all of the crews relatives were treated that way.

And this was months after the Coast Guard had the black box from the ship, they finally got the transcript after a lot of calls and ultimatums.

And in the transcripts it seems the captain didn't pay enough attention to what was happening, it looks like he spent a lot of his time in his bunk when he should have been on the bridge.

You can find the transcripts online, if you are / were a mariner it's quite informative to read them, but where the bridge mic was placed was next to a window shade that made noise enough to not have the entire recording legible so some things are not known.

[not fooled]

2. Not used to

or not taking into consideration the greater force of climate-change intensified storms?

Just a thought.

And may this incident lead to better safety in shipping lanes in future, in particular if the jobs of seafarers become ever more hazardous.

[More_Cowbell]

3. I read this interesting story about the second mate, Danielle Randolph, earlier this year

https://www.thestar.com/business/2017/04/12/im-a-goner-inside-the-sinking-of-the-el-faro.html