El Faro sinking, 2015
The loss of the US-flag cargo ship El Faro in Hurricane Joaquin on 1 October 2015, with all crew, and the NTSB investigation in report NTSB/MAR-17/01.
El Faro was a US-flag cargo ship that sank in Hurricane Joaquin near Crooked Island, Bahamas, on 1 October 2015. The US National Transportation Safety Board investigated the loss and published Marine Accident Report NTSB/MAR-17/01.
The investigation is one of the most cited uses of a voyage data recorder : the capsule was recovered from 15,250 feet on 8 August 2016 and yielded more than 26 hours of data and bridge audio. The NTSB also found that the acoustic locator beacon battery had been allowed to pass an annual performance test although it was due to expire in May 2015.
The full article will cover the voyage, the weather routing and decision-making on board, the ship’s condition and stability, the search and the VDR recovery, the NTSB findings and recommendations, and the regulatory follow-up by the US Coast Guard.