Board members tried to determine the role of TOTE Services in the tragedy during the second day of hearings before the Marine Board of Investigation concerning the sinking of cargo ship El Faro.
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A recent review of Tote Maritime’s cargo ship El Faro’s last fatal voyage has revealed that the captain aboard the ship, Michael Davidson, had in an email to Tote officials sought a change in route in order to veer the ship off the course of hurricane Joaquin in the Bahamas. The ship was hit by Hurricane Joaquin and all 33 crew aboard died.
Neither of those things happened in advance of Hurricane Joaquin, or the fatal voyage that claimed the lives of 33 men and women aboard El Faro.
Davidson didn’t immediately push the incident up the chain, which would have allowed them to get evidence at the time, like a blood test. Instead, Kondracki says they were left with secondhand accounts and little physical proof, which is why the incident itself wasn’t actually written up.
In December 2014, another shipping company that competed with TOTE Puerto Rico, Horizon Lines, exited the Puerto Rican trade, leaving a vacuum.
The El Faro’s owner sent a company-wide safety alert out about a hurricane last summer, but did not send one before the storm that contributed to the ship’s sinking.
Second Mate Charles Baird testified before a U.S. Coast Guard panel in Jacksonville investigating the ship’s sinking last October.
It is unclear why Davidson chose to take a route closer to the storm’s path rather than a longer, safer route that he had taken during previous storms such as Tropical Storm Erika.
The USCG Marine Board of Investigation into the loss of the ro/ro El Faro continued Thursday with testimony from several TOTE deck officers regarding weather, vessel stability, loading practices and vessel condition. A company official said yes. The 735-foot ship was found more than 15,000 feet underwater in November 2015. Mr. Nolan described the El Faro and her sister ships as “fine vessels, well maintained, well certified”, and said that while the decision to replace them predated his tenure, he knew that the implementation of Emissions Control Areas along the coastline was a key factor.
In the afternoon session, Peterson proved a more willing witness, answering questions quickly and volunteering information. There were no signs of survivors, only oil bubbling from where the ship went down, he said.
A broken wind speed gauge presented few difficulties for experienced mariners, Baird said.
According to Greene, it was the captain’s responsibility to make sure the ship and its crew were safe, not onshore personnel. The National Transportation Safety Board said it is planning to search the wreckage again in an attempt to find it. “He advises us, it’s a one way conversation”, said Morrell.
Action News Jax reporter Lorena Inclan spotted the remnants of El Faro’s cargo in the Bahamas, where at least two refrigerated containers that appeared to be carrying food washed ashore.
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The hearing resumes Thursday and lasts through next week.
