A marine board investigation is the Coast Guard’s highest level probe.
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Relatives of the dead El Faro crew members have sued Tote, saying the ship was not seaworthy and should have avoided the hurricane. The hearing adjourned shortly after 3 p.m. Tuesday. Morrell said the email showed common courtesy by the captain, not evidence that management dictated the ship’s route.
“Our preference is that somebody’s more- what we call- active, just more around on the ship, on deck”, Morrell says.
The board also discussed an internal email from Melissa Clark, the firm’s crewing manager, expressing “dwindling confidence” in Captain Davidson.
NTSB officials believe some unanswered questions could be answered by finding the ship’s voyage data recorder, or “black box”. The hearing on Tuesday revealed a safety alert for Hurricane Joaquin was never issued.
A panel of the Coast Guard’s Public Marine Board questioned Morrell on the organization’s chain of command, communications and on El Faro’s captain – ME native Michael Davidson. It was less than 20 miles from the eye of the hurricane. Morrell told investigators alternate routes are there mainly in case of severe weather.
“Usually the master is doing this for weather avoidance or a safer ride, so the expected on-time arrival would be not probably what is posted”, Morrell said. “60 Minutes” did a story on the El Faro last month. But by October 1 the El Faro ran into trouble.
He said the older ships such as the El Faro were as reliable as newer vessels.
The hearings open Tuesday in Jacksonville as authorities address many questions, chief among them whether misconduct, negligence or shoddy safety inspections contributed to the El Faro’s demise. He couldn’t recall whether he thought about the safety of El Faro because of Hurricane Joaquin. Then briefly, from 2003 to 2006, the ship was contracted by the USA military for running supplies from Texas to Kuwait for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Investigators asked Morrell why the aging vessel was in continuous use when TOTE had plenty of younger ships at its disposal. Morrell said it the reasoning was twofold: First, the ship was in no worse condition than its newer vessels, and, second, new environmental regulations would make it obsolete in four years anyway.
Morrell said the El Faro and its sister ship would fall under the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Emission Control Area Designation”. Get the updated list of the latest news about the Americas.
Why Wasn’t There A More Complete Employment Evaluation For Capt. Davidson?
Tuesday’s hearing to find out who bears responsibility for the ship being caught in the middle of the hurricane, heard from Philip Morrell, vice president for commercial marine operations at Tote Services, the El Faro’s owner.
“Tote has always put maintenance as a top priority”.
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Investigators first will trace the El Faro’s history during a ten-day hearing in Jacksonville, Florida.
