The Investigation of the Sinking of US Cargo Vessel El Faro

This 15 minute video summarizes the NTSB investigation of the October 1, 2015, sinking of El Faro and the loss of all 33 mariners aboard. It examines the NTSB’s determination of the cause of the accident and discusses associated recommendations to improve marine safety. The video also highlights the three missions undertaken to retrieve the voyage data recorder and document the wreckage at a depth of 15,000 feet beneath the ocean surface.
Visit the accident page on our website:
www.ntsb.gov/investigations/P...

[@kurtb5512]

So sad I was supposed to be on that voyage. I lost friends and good shipmates. My experience with Tote was horrible they never cared about our safety. They did nothing when safety issues were spoken of. 40 year old ship should have never been allowed to sail anymore. That ship was a complete rust bucket, so many problems. The lifeboats were open lifeboats with old davits. My experience with Captain Davis was unpleasant and disappointing. He didn’t have the experience like other captains I sailed with. He never got to know the ship and its problems. That was a complete nightmare that should have been taken of years before it happened. But a captain once told me Speed and Greed is what killed all those people aboard EL Faro. The company and Captain made a horrible decision that cost my friends lives my shipmates lives hurt all the families, could have easily cost my life. Tote Maritime is an embarrassment to the industry plain and simple. It’s sad it takes a tragedy to change laws to protect the men and women that work aboard these ships. More needs to be done. I’ve sailed for 25 years 12 years on that particular voyage. I have a huge list of things that could be changed but they won’t listen to me. Hopefully they will listen before the next tragedy happen. God bless my shipmates and Families. Rest In Peace 33

[@dannyholt105]

My condolences sir. I am glad you are here to tell about this. Cheers, Dan

[@kurtb5512]

Danny Holt Thanks Danny

[@TwinDriver]

Hi Kurt. My condolences on the very sad outcome - my heart goes out to the family and friends of the crew. My question is whether there is a process in place to override the captain’s actions and authority in instances such as this. Respectfully, Fred

[@kurtb5512]

Fred Pfarr Great question Fred yes they would have to get with the chiefmate and question his decision making. The problem there was Danielle and Jeremy both had warned the captain. I don’t know why the captain continue on its course and speed I have a feeling why but I can only speculate. Sounded like everyone was unaware of the situation and nobody really judged the captain decision other than the deck officers and ABs. Your down in the engine room you rely on the deck officers to make a safe voyage. They really know what was happening. I wish I had the answers and why they didn’t have a mutiny. Danielle or Jeremy took the ship to a safe route than they would have been screwed by the company and coast guard because they broke the chain of command. The system isn’t perfect. I suggest all companies now should monitor all of their ships get the safest passage have the coast guard informed and also have a three person decide in what is best. The captain, chief mate and second mate the odd man out. Then get the okay from the coaster guard. Long process but will work. Captain Davidson made that decision because he was pressured. He made that decision before to have a safer route and the company nearly fired him. Cargo ships have a heavy schedule to go by. Time is money for them. Heavy penalties for being late. This video left out a ton of facts. They knew what happened not saying it. It’s all about the mighty dollar saving our industry, coast guard, AbS the list goes on and on

[@RodinThink28]

When the captain goes to sleep, who's in charge ? And why did that person not make the decision to head towards safety ? There is nothing more important than saving lives, damned be the profits and all else

[@gloomyblackfur399]

They found and recovered the VDR from a debris field 15,000ft underwater? That's just breathtaking.

[@felixcat9318]

After all crew are dead and the wreckage litters the seabed, unlimited energy, time, resources and budget are expended. Had considerably less than 1/10 of that been put into the correct operation, management, and on board safety and survival equipment, that crew might still be alive and the vessel afloat.

[@ambulocetusnatans]

That's almost 3 miles. I can't imagine that much water. That's like from here to the next town over.

[@whoohaaXL]

Hey in the 1970s the US recovered part of a nuclear Russian submarine in 17,000 feet of water. Check out project azorian or submarine k-129

[@ToolofSociety]

@@felixcat9318 The difference is who was paying for it. The search for the VDR was funded by the federal government (NTSB). Everything else you mentioned would of been funded by a company run by people who are more worried about profits.. Privatize the profits socialize the losses. Just standard business operation for many companies in the USA...

[@jacobhartmann1050]

@@ToolofSociety you pretty much nailed it

[@streetblaze290]

I am really glad they made covered life boats mandatory. I feel if they at least had that then my father would still be here

[@billn9910]

Reading the book on this loss, the Coast Guard repeatedly gave them permission to disregard the enclosed lifeboat rule that was in effect long before this ship was lost.

[@greenseaships]

That is definitely important, but one of the Captain's mistakes was waiting too long to abandon ship. Left them with not enough time to launch ANY lifeboats -covered or not.

[@frankhamm6794]

but they didnt work doe so they was useless

[@Porter1006]

Just read this. It is straight from Bowditch, otherwise known as the ship navigators bible. “As the center approaches, rain falls in torrents. The wind fury increases. The seas become mountainous. The tops of huge waves are blown off to mingle with the rain and fill the air with water. Visibility is virtually zero in blinding rain and spray. Even the largest and most seaworthy vessels become virtually unmanageable, and may sustain heavy damage. Less sturdy vessels may not survive. Navigation virtually stops as safety of the vessel becomes the only consideration. The awesome fury of this condition can only be experienced. Words are inadequate to describe it.”

[@DevinEMILE]

@@Porter1006 let’s just say during WWII the uss Iowa battleship group was hit by a typhoon. Many ships where damaged and some sunk. We may think we are advanced. But Mother Nature still is beyond us.

[@andrejohnson1488]

My condolences the families of the individuals of the ship.

[@frankpusatere4870]

Thank You Andre

[@gregmanning8967]

Thanks to the NTSB, USCG and USN for their great work and this fantastic production.

[@dillanma]

Totally agree with all Kurt is saying.Shipowners are the real pirates of the sea.They hold the crew to ransome.Complain and you are sacked.Deviate from route,sacked.don't sail because of bad weather,sacked.A 40 year old cargo ship should be automatically scrapped.There are so many inaccesible parts of a ship that can't be inspected for metal fatigue that inspections are a farce.Inspectors are under pressure from shipowners not to take too long inspecting their ship as time is money.Therefore as long as the paperwork is in order and the ship APPEARS clean and tidy,the vessel passes inspection and sails.There is no way El Faro would have been allowed to sail in Europe(probably why she was on that run,where inspections were lax)R.I.P.all crew

[@youngseanconnery8577]

i understand what you're saying, but have to disagree with you with respect to the inspections not being thorough...there are rotating inspections, meaning yes, the ballast tanks probably only were inspected once every 4-5 years for coatings and damage. but the cargo holds would have been inspected annually, especially on a ship like this. the scuttles and WTDs would have been rotationally inspected probably 2-3 years ABS would have caught non-conformities. i have seen classification society inspectors that were not really on the up and up, and you knew that, but in that same breath, i was on 30 year old container ship that was essentially failed due to ballast tank corrosion, that required nearly 1.6 million dollars of steel work. that inspector was not afraid to deliver that news, and we had to get coast guard waivers to sail back to the states where we prepared for scrapping. by the way, we sailed to europe for scrapping. we were allowed in 1 port for bunkering, and another for offloading l.o. and bunkers. so that's not accurate. and personally i was in every possible void and spent an entire day in the after peak tank, so there is no stone left unturned in these inspection, that isn't honest in how inspections are conducted. dont' get me wrong, i thought ABS was largely staffed by boobs, but still, this isn't correct

[@Itried20takennames]

Except…I haven’t seen anything that said the ship condition was a factor at all. I have no clue, but I think a brand new rescue craft would be in danger sailing into a hurricane. Also, other Captains were presumably under the same economics pressures, but most other Captains said no, not doing that. Even his crew repeatedly questioned the El Faro Captain plotting a course towards the storm, and he just blew them off with “I have seen way worse…I am taking a nap.”

[@randbarrett8706]

It is the American way.

[@GuardianComplex]

But he'll still vote republican and then wonder why nothing changes.

[@markburnham9690]

Uuue8ur

[@_Tony_87]

Listening to the crews final conversation is chilling RIP 😢

[@aslater5]

So sad, especially when the whole bridge was turning over and the guy couldn’t even climb up the floor anymore, he was trapped and he knew it. Even though he was still trying to get out.

[@johnengland8619]

Surprised no one stuck a knife in the captain

[@lbamm]

THANK YOU to all research and military personnel for closing the page for those Family members. You guys are awesome!

[@GTFF]

You can go and learn everything from school, do everything to become a captain. You'll learn how to abandon a ship but you'll never learn when.

[@mitchwood6609]

In the final minutes of the recording, Davidson pleads with a sailor to move. “We gotta move. You gotta get up. You gotta snap out of it and we gotta get out,” he says. “Okay,” the sailor answers. “Help me.” “You gotta get to safety,” Davidson shouts. “Help me,” the sailor cries. “Help me.” “Don’t panic. Don’t panic. Work your way up here,” the captain says. He refuses to leave. “I can’t. I’m a goner.” “It's time to come this way,” Davidson shouts. Then the recording stops.

[@C_AVATAR]

Shudders when I hear that...I think Davidson yelled the bow is down ,too! That pretty much tells us...doom is here. Sad. He might as well be a BLIND CAPTAIN.

[@aslater5]

That really hit hard. I think that part will always stay with me.

[@SaveDaLastZombie]

RIP Captain Davidson

[@mikeghost9923]

@@SaveDaLastZombieRIP Captain Davidson?!? Are you kidding me?? That buffoon killed his crew.

[@frankhamm6794]

RIP Daddy I Love You Man

[@MrSahansdal]

Just finished Run the Storm. I feel like I knew your dad. Looks like he was at the helm with the Captain. I lost mine too to incompetence when I was 13 (dad was a pilot in AF in atomic testing). Thinking of you and your loss.

[@Matt-mo8sl]

God be with your dad and the rest of the crew.

[@frankhamm6794]

MrSahansdal Rest In Peace too your Dad as well man

[@frankhamm6794]

Matt I Appreciate that man

[@Matt-mo8sl]

@@frankhamm6794 You bet, sir. I live in Maine and El Faro's captain and 4 others were also fellow Mainers so this tragic event got a lot of media attention up here. I have watched so many videos and read a lot of info about how this happened and it maddens me to the core. I don't know you or your dad or anybody on that ship but I know in my heart of hearts your dad was a fine sailor, a fine dad and and a fine man. Again, my prayers to this day for you and your family.

[@silvershocknicktail6638]

Interesting. Most NTSB videos are very formal and offiical. This one's got production values - creepy music, news reports, fake glitching, etc. Which video editor got bored?

[@theskitsdump7728]

Silvershock Nicktail more “ viewer friendly

[@awuma]

No doubt they have been inspired by all those "Air Accident Investigation", "Mayday" and "Seconds from Disaster" TV shows. This is an excellent video, though it does not get into why the captain did what he did.

[@andremunoz3939]

Silvershock Nicktail It is propaganda. They don’t even try to hide it.

[@t.g.5256]

They have two videos on the El Faro. One is very formal as you mentined and this one, i guess to be more appealing to normal ppl.

[@rampancyproductions]

USCSB has some pretty good accident analysis videos up, NTSB upped their game, Excellent use of tax money in my opinion, I'd rather have this then some robot voice rattling off numbers.

[@iamsixtoes3249]

RIP Anthony Thomas. A shipmate and friend.

[@kimjongun2946]

I read all that I could on this tragedy, including the transcripts. It's clear the captain made one too many blunders and assumptions that lead to this, but leave the man and the crew rest. He wanted to go back to his family too. Its just a sad loss of life.

[@frankmiller95]

The best comment on this was made by retired CG rescue swimmer and marine inspector, Mario Vittone. "Otherwise good people, with all the information they needed to make a good decision, made a bad one." Very often, all that's necessary for the loss of a ship is one small failure, which leads to another bigger one, with a succession of greater ones in quickly cascading succession.

[@woofna1948]

Mario is a very intelligent and thoughtful man who has a gift for distilling complex situations down into their essential parts. If you spend much time reading about "incidents", one big takeaway is that judgement is often flawed. Laurence Gonzalez has done an excellent job of highlighting this in his book "Deep Survival". Reading it is humbling because it shows the many ways that "otherwise good people, with all the information they need to make a good decision" plus plenty of experience, fail to choose the right course of action - often with disastrous results. Another lesson is that whereas we often think we're operating with Mr. Spock type logic, in fact we're running a train down a track using only emotion. The commercial airline industry paid attention to the scientific research that illuminated this problem and incorporated mitigating safeguards into their cockpit protocols. The same protocols should be mandated for shipping.

[@frankmiller95]

@@woofna1948 Exactly. l read the same quote you refer to regarding "experience," bought and read Laurence Gonzales' book and corresponded with him via email. Anyone in any occupation with constant danger, who fails to keep that quote in the forefront of his or her mind and who manages to avoid catastrophe throughout their career will have done so solely through luck. By some strange coincidence, both Laurence's father and mine flew aboard B17s with the 8th AF during WWll, although in different outfits. My father was with the (in)famous "Bloody 100th," so named because of its enormous casualty rate. l wince to this day, recalling multiple situations where l considered myself "experienced" and avoided disaster in spite of my (self) vaunted "experience." As a result, l can provide Laurence's brilliantly simple observation verbatim, word for word and think of it often while at sea. The same recall applies to the sentence in "Bowditch" in the chapter on tropical cyclones, regarding those mariners who have experienced them at sea.

[@CheersWarren]

The book 'into the raging sea' by Rachel Slade is a riveting book available in audio also and goes into great detail of the background of the captains poor decisions fueled by the disastrous management of Tote inc. it should be a must read by anybody planing to head to sea. The hugely damning information I have found from the book is that the weather data from the BVS system used and marketed to commercial shipping is by its own admission in its manual always 9-12 hours old by the time it is received on the ship in an emailed format. ..... so much for real time weather data! Let's hope that has improved but i doubt it! Warren

[@seanatteberry3686]

Reading that book now. Sad how people have to die because of ego and corporate stupidity.

[@felixcat9318]

The book is a disturbing read, not because the reader knows what happens, but because the bridge crew new too, yet they did nothing to countermand the recklessly dangerous orders of the captain. In their cowardice and dereliction of duty, they failed in their duty of care to save the vessel and the lives of the crew on board by taking the safer route, and instead steamed directly into the eye of the category 4 hurricane!

[@nathanpitts1591]

I am a native of the Maine coast and from seafaring families. Many members of my family went to sea as they say. It was always ABSOLUTE that the Master was totally responsible for the safety of both the ship and it's crew. His word was "law". Now the corporate bean counters think they can run shipping and make money. If the weather is good and nothing unusual happens and things go according to plan, profit is made. It needs to be said that these ships, sailing due to the Jones Act rules, are not often in very good condition. Most of these, like El Faro, are run until they are dead in one way or another. Combine that with a captain who was often in fear for his job, and fear of being looked upon by the corporate "bean counters" 24/7 and that is why El Faro and her crew rest on bottom forever. It turned out that lifesaving decisions, in a dreadful emergency situation, were made by the corporate heads, probably most of who have never been to sea. The captain should have been able to take a more southerly sheltered course, even if it took a day more. That is a decision any/all old time skippers would have made, without needing to get permission from desk sailors. Safety of ship, cargo and crew, are far more important than corporate profits, in a situation like this one.

[@shable1436]

@@nathanpitts1591 that's why he called corporate emergency center to ask permission, that shows his loyalty to the dollar and not his crew, this happens to all Captains, especially the seafood market, it's the worst, they act like they don't care about you, and once out, they say well take a walk if you don't like it. They have ego problems and bad attitudes, and corporate loves cats that tow the policy line, then onboard they are drunk with power, it needs to change, and have voting system by officers on deck

[@nathanpitts1591]

@@shable1436 These corporate fools have turned being the captain into being just a mere slave serving at the whim of the corporate bean counters. The captain today is a disgrace compared to the history of seafarers all over the world. My grandfather spent a year in the Caribbean, shortly after WWI was over, on a US Government mapping project that created modern marine charts of that area, and saw firsthand what hurricanes can do. No seaman in his right mind wants to be anywhere near one of these storms. The captain made some appalling decisions....and paid for them. Too bad he had to take the rest of the crew along with him. This is not too far removed from that fool that said "no hurricane can sink the Bounty" and the same thing happened there.

[@WW-sj7zk]

With all due respect to lost crew and grieving families….. this Capt sailed straight into a hurricane in a ship known to be way past her prime.

[@darkprose]

He could not have done it without his officers in the bridge. Read the transcript. Not _once_ did they challenge the captain’s decisions. They sent private messages to family and friends about the increasing danger they were in and they expressed considerable anxiety about the captain’s decisions-but not to the captain.

[@IndyandJazmin]

​​@@darkproseThat's not true. The Second Officer (I think her name was Danielle something) tried to get the "Captain" to take different routes that were safely away from a direct run into the heart of the storm more than once, the last time being just a matter of a few hours before the ship was ultimately lost, smh.

[@ripwednesdayadams]

@@darkproseok you clearly didn’t read the transcripts because that’s a flat out lie. the second mate danielle challenged him multiple times along with a couple people below her. captain has the final say. she was also the one who prepped the emergency packages early, knew where the survival suits/safety gear was located and tried to make sure everyone has their stuff. the fact that he called tote before emergency services does not make the company look good either. captain is def to blame but tote is not blameless either. they didn’t have a chance- they had old, open top titanic style lifeboats that couldn’t be reached or launched in those conditions and life rafts- that’s it. there were containers and cars in the water everyone went straight into during a massive hurricane.

[@mrgreen2570]

Rafal Zdobych was my childhood friend...RIP

[@Matt-mo8sl]

Danielle Randolph, second mate I think she was and a fellow Mainer, knew they were headed for trouble. She proposed routes to save the ship but fell on deaf ears. While Davidson was asleep between midnight and 4am, THAT woulda been the time for a mutiny, to turn that ship around or turn it to the west. Those 4 to 6 hours going on the other direction coulda saved the ship. I wish she woulda done that and dealt with the consequences later but like a loyal sailor, she left it up to the captain. Sad.

[@KyleInOklahoma]

Yep. She was a good person.

[@darkespeon64]

have to be loyal to your captain and trust that he knows better then you. Horrifically in this case he was a horrible captain

[@londoncab2814]

They should have , Davidson was crazy. A for real "The Caine Mutiny" was necessary.

[@Matt-mo8sl]

@@londoncab2814 Agreed.

[@randychase305]

Sounds like she was even worse than the Captain. He was too arrogant and didn't act. She was obviously too cowardly and didn't act.

[@lbamm]

Tragic. At what point does the 1st officer relieve a suicidal captain of command? We ALL know that the motivator was and always is MONEY. TOTE will never admit to the pressures they placed on this captain to go head with this voyage.

[@RW4X4X3006]

They managed it in the USS Caine.

[@frankmiller95]

@@RW4X4X3006 Yes. That was a movie. They were also court martialed.

[@RW4X4X3006]

@@frankmiller95 Courts martial would be a good deal.

[@grouperkng1]

You know as well as I do that the GP has zero idea as to the deadlines and pressure put on the crews to be early or on time Everytime.

[@mdlclassworker3384]

At what point are these corporations brought to heel as in fined millions per death, something they will seriously feel !

[@vlavella831]

NTSB thank you for compiling this video to share.. Lost a Classmate on the El Faro. 1 A/E Keith Griffin

[@cdoleoj1]

El Faro translates to "The Lighthouse" - video last remarks!

[@andrewarmstrong7310]

I have seen dead calm seas go to 90-foot waves, 5knots winds go to a 100Knots all under an hour. 2/3rds of this planet is water. In days past ships that sailed through a storm would relay the information and give time, wind and location information every 15 minutes to anyone who might be in range, you heeded those transmissions. That was perfectly fine in normal sea lanes when you were operating out of the normal sea lanes, it was you, the crew and the ship. Sat weather, Sat phones, Sat radios are remarkable technologies that provide the bridge crew with very useful information however that information has to be understood and received in a timely manner. I don't buy the argument they were unaware, or not sure where the waves were coming from. every 30 seconds the weather radar should have given them information to know what they were in and the best course of action to take. I have lost count of the times I have found myself inside a forming Hurricane or Typhoon. I can't believe the bridge or deck crew did not notice orbital waves around them. I can't understand why the Captain did not order the bridge crew to find a "Hurricane hole" till it passed over. Even if this ship was a 14 Knot chugger it could have easily outran the storm or kept them on the "clean" side of the storm.

[@x--.]

You would know better than me but worst part of the storm was encountered at night and the transcript indicated they had no visibility, even at nautical twilight they were struggling to see. Chief Mate said he couldn't see the wind direction but believed they were just coming "out of the lee." There was mention of the weather radar but it appears they did not heavily rely upon it. The transcript makes it pretty clear the Chief Mate, Captain (and I think 3rd Mate) all thought they were south of the hurricane eye. -- They weren't, they were northwest of it and steaming right into the eye wall but... well.

[@frankmiller95]

Agreed. From looking at the chart plot, it seems they could even have ducked into the lee of Conception lsland, since it seems that for a brief period, the seas and wind were diminished due to that very lee. Having sailed these waters often, the captain's decisions are inexplicable.

[@beavis4play]

this story would make a good movie.

[@Fingers896]

I was thinking the same thing. I think the creators of 'Deepwater Horizon' would make a great movie out of this. May they Rest In Paradise.

[@beavis4play]

@@Fingers896 - yea. i read the books about the last days and it was riveting - lots of little plotlines and then there was the captain and his refusal to alter course.......sad in real life but it would make a great movie.

[@beavis4play]

@@cattnipp - there is an "el faro" movie; but, it's not about the ship.

[@alejandrofallas9734]

Its so sad and annoying that because of one's person decision in this case "The Captain" all those lives were lost.

[@thefoxygamer1536]

That captian was a complete moron. He got his entire crew and himself killed because he thought he could challenge Poseidon. His crewmates were literally begging him to turn around but he kept downplaying the situation saying it wasn't so bad.

[@alejandrofallas9734]

@@thefoxygamer1536Unfortunately everything went wrong that day,an stubborn captain,an old ship that should never be allow to sail and the perfect storm (literally)... It's a shame and unfortunate that AFTER lives are lost at sea,new and tough ships regulations are implemented...

[@stephenbritton9297]

(unless I am forgetting something) Its been a generation since the USMM has lost an ocean going ship with all hands, or nearly all hands (MARINE ELECTRIC - 1983). We kinda forgot it was possible still. When I was shipping TOTE was looked at as a good company - at least from the outside.

[@gus473]

👍 Great to see contributions from KZbinr Jeff HK and, of course, USCG! Remarkable effort to recover and document....!

[@MrSahansdal]

After reading the book, Run the Storm, seems this was sort of a whitewash of Tote. Captain screwed up, but Tote should have scrapped El Faro long before.

[@dickfitswell3437]

90% of the time the owner/agent has no clue what the vessel looks like. They are just hiring the cheapest transportation company (tote) to get goods from A to B.

[@charlesfaure1189]

Yes--but it was the captain's fecklessness that killed the ship.

[@perezstrategicinsights]

My heart goes out to the families of those who perished. Kudos to the NTSB and the government agencies and associated enterprises that helped provide some semblance of conclusion to this incredibly sad human debacle. My only sadness is that, to the best of my knowledge, no one in the company who owned or managed this ship has ever or will ever pay the price for their complicity in this crime.

[@Angel-tw3ko]

You won't see it, but they will absolutely reap what is sown on earth and on judgement day!

[@yolo_burrito]

@@Angel-tw3kopiss off with that nonsense.

[@aratliffable]

Thank you for posting this. I was trying to understand the debris field and this answered my questions as to how she went down. It's a sad tragedy, and I'm glad that some safety operations will go into place as a result of it. If only TOTES could have learned before the tragedy, and actually implemented safer operations...

[@woofna1948]

Tote knew the condition of the ship. Tote was responsible for the substandard safety equipment, paucity of training, and drills. This was another excellent example of the intersection of commerce and safety, a nasty place where safety almost always gets thrown under the bus. And the agencies that should have provided oversight certified the vessel.

[@jeffvalley67]

If I own a commercial boat and I am safely in my office on land, monitoring where the ship is, in real time, and I see a hurricane on a collision course with the ship, I have an obligation to alert the ship and order them to avoid the storm. Notice that, as a ship owner, I have to be paying attention in order to do this. Read Rachel Slade's book. Even if the captain screwed up, there were other things that could have been done to avoid this and perhaps yes, the captain could have and should have done things to save the ship but TOTE also could have stepped in to take action.

[@SoulKhepri]

I read someone saying their ship passed el faro and the captain was trying to avoid the storm where as el faro was heading onwards the direction and everyone was shocked that they were continuing. Don’t have proof but they seemed pretty serious lol

[@Doones51]

A much better ending to this would have been for the crew to report this idiot Captain had fallen overboard.

[@bassembenrhouma9621]

It is a sad memory Our condolences from tunisia

[@richardkanuch8049]

If you look closely at the wreckage, it's apparent that ship was battered and twisted by super high winds and seas. The top two decks were completely ripped off along with the mast and tossed quite a distance away. I can't begin to imagine the terror those poor souls had to endure in their last living moments. RIP.

[@charlesfaure1189]

That likely happened during the plunge to the bottom.

[@Southerngirl612]

15, 000 ft! The titanic rest at 12,500ft . The pressure at el faro's dept is unbelievable.

[@scooterbob4432]

The US destroyer escort which was sunk in WW2 was recently discovered at the bottom of the Philippine sea in the Pacific Ocean at more than 22,000 feet, the deepest wreck discovered so far. The Philippine trench has a depth of about 34,500 feet.

[@C_AVATAR]

Yep, they mentioned it in a documentary. I was dumbfounded when I found out it was deeper than the Titanic! No wonder they couldn't recover any bodies!

[@danbev9313]

​@@C_AVATAR There were no bodies to recover. They were cunsumed by sea creatures

[@mdlclassworker3384]

These companies push and scrimp knowing the fines will be pocket change to them

[@utistudent099]

I tune in and watch this because in some way it hits home. I worked on the Aleutian Enterprise in the Alaska fisheries out of Dutch Harbor. I had changed companies to a better trawler in 1989 and when I learned of her going down I was among many very vocal about neglect and greed. Imagine the big red round bell on the wall that should wake everyone up being used as an ash tray in the galley. It was that bad. Terrible place to work.

[@craigbutler6243]

I know little of the sea but understand it's power... My heart goes out to the souls lost on this ship....From where I stand I see two reasons why this ship was lost, Temptation & greed..... The greed of the ships owners & their grip on the ship's captain to make port on time for a fist full of dollars. This is our world all over it saddens me to say....God save us all

[@ATSFSuperChief]

I sailed in the merchant marine from 1965 to 1991 and continued working there until 1998. The loss of EL FARO was horrible and many rumors were heard but not mentioned by the NTSB. Horrible for the lost sea persons and their families and they have my profound heartfelt feelings. Where does the management of Tote stand in this?

[@nunya2954]

Don Allender - There should have been a mutiny on that ship. I be danged if I would let a capt. as inept as Davidson to get me killed.

[@adamadam-tp6hh]

@@nunya2954 Exactly yep

[@woofna1948]

Management stands where management always stands: Wagons circled, asses covered as best they can. They fostered a top-down toxic culture and were ultimately responsible for the physical condition of the vessel.

[@johnthemachine]

you forgot that you heard el faro's impact with the sea floor via the hydrophone network

[@edgeradio8208]

Can you listen to recording somewhere?

[@trezndawg4240]

"Disastrous Indifference: The Loss of SS El Faro" is a revealing inside story of this horrific and unnecessary tragedy!

[@PRR5406]

Thank you, NTSB.

[@geoffreylee5199]

Good production!

[@victorburton9499]

The failure to arrest and try the TOTE execs is itself criminal.

[@alanhowitzer]

From the testimony from TOTE, they act like they could lose a ship a week and it wouldn't be their responsibility. It wouldn't affect them much at all. Amazing!

[@MoneyManHolmes]

Should have at least subpoenaed their inspection records and related emails to see if there was any covering up going on.

[@greenseaships]

TOTE's responsibility wasn't NEARLY as bad as the Coast Guard not requiriing enclosed-top lifeboats. Seriously- launch an open top lifeboat in the middle of a Cat3 Hurricane? Don't look at TOTE- look at the USCG.

[@craigcorsini8241]

They need to at least publicly flog the executives. Sorry if this sounds medieval. But such punishments would clearly send a message.

[@petahoee8281]

I'm here Becuase of Mr ballen

[@Evan-lg3jx]

Same

[@flaviomonteiro1414]

So you are a fan of the strange, dark and mysterious delivered in story format...

[@silverscreenmedia2203]

It’s all fun and games until the strange dark and mysterious is delivered in story format.

[@silverscreenmedia2203]

@Judy Motto Heck yeah

[@sincere3005]

LMFAO! Fuckin Same!

[@othername1000]

Anybody know where the recording of the Board meeting for this is?

[@kurtb5512]

Read Run the Storm and Into the storm. Explains allot.

[@MrSahansdal]

Was Foy's book accurate so far as you know?

[@josephgreeley5569]

I just finished reading "Into the Raging Sea" by Rachel Slade. The suits at TOTE have much to answer for, and it's a crying shame that they will never be held responsible for their part in this tragedy. The NTSB rightly puts the lion's share of the blame on Captain Davidson, but it was greed and shortsightedness on the part of TOTE that led to El Faro's poor condition. A well found and maintained ship might have survived, and certainly the crew would have had a better chance of surviving.

[@dknowles60]

a brand new ship might have sank. The captan should have change course

[@RM-pg4js]

I agree completly

[@aslater5]

It’s frustrating that nothing really happened to the company, they could’ve at least had up-to-date modern enclosed lifeboats, that could’ve saved the crew’s lives but they were too cheap for that, they convinced the regulators that open lifeboats would be fine.

[@darkprose]

The NTSB investigation’s final recommendations for maritime safety was 1. Don’t sail into the path of a hurricane. 2. Don’t sail too close to a hurricane. 3. Don’t sail _into_ the hurricane.

[@kilobravo2373]

Was this an ad for the ntsb, or a report on this sinking? I know what it seemed like to me.

[@jaxonwright2243]

At 6:40 the picture of the ship dispatched to the area seems to have Ukranian navy colors. Blue over yellow is Ukranian right?

[@edgeradio8208]

Maybe it’s just the colors of the private company owning the ship

[@werquantum]

Why omit transcript detail? That’s why most people watched this video. Lame.

[@kathanak8990]

i came here from mr ballens channel rest in peace poor innocent souls

[@nibekus]

Same!

[@C_AVATAR]

Mr. Ballen...Had he been on that ship he would have relieved idiot Capt. Davidson of his command! ANd changed course! I'm sure Ballen's Seal training would have helped for the situation.

[@jisidorfisk]

Here is a thought. Don't let a moron sail into a hurricane. I am a retired Mariner. No excuse for that.

[@dutchflats]

The captain is the final authority as to the safe operation of his vessel.

[@grouperkng1]

@@dutchflats being the master of a vessel while heading into a hurricane he should have been awake and on the bridge when receiving calls from his 2nd and 3rd mate about weather issues.

[@Lion718]

@@dutchflats “This was every day in Alaska,” They have Category Four hurricanes in Alaska!? The Captain was an Idiot!

[@Lion718]

@@dutchflats On another note, I believe mother nature is the final authority as to the safe operation of a vessel...

[@dutchflats]

@@Lion718 Well, it is certainly true that Mother Nature always wins when you test her. The trick is, the captain's judgement when deciding if it's reasonably safe to try her or whether to make an alternate plan.

[@adamadam-tp6hh]

If not for an arrogant self absorbed captain that crew never wouldve perished.

[@othername1000]

Posting yet again, 17 months from the first time; where is the board meeting on this one? Where is the video of the board meeting?

[@aliaguerin1266]

I try to find the audio of this disaster al i can find is a written transcript is the audio not released?

[@sailingnomad4963]

Alia Guerin it has not been released. Not even the family was allowed to listen to the recording.

[@awuma]

The long-standing Western policy of not releasing CVR/VDR recordings inhibits investigation by independent citizens. In the case of the April 10, 2010 Smolensk disaster, when the Poland's equivalent of Air Force one crashed, killing the President and 95 other people, including many top officials, the Russians did release the sound track and much else. A Polish-Canadian professor at the University of Toronto was able to combine noises in the CVR soundtrack with FDR, aerial and space photography, and the plane's specifications, to simulate the crash dynamics, confirming the official Russian and Polish analyses and disproving the fake conspiracy theories of the Law and Justice Party (PiS). His brother, an engineer in Poland with expertise in sound recording, was able to join an official re-investigation in Moscow and corrected deficiencies in the Russian tape reading equipment, increasing the CVR transcript by 30% and proving that the air force chief was in the cockpit with the crew during the approach and crash. Had the CVR soundtrack not been released by the Russians, the Artymowicz brothers would not have been able to contribute so strongly to debunking the theories of PiS and thereby hopefully hastening the defeat of the destructive neo-populist authoritarian PiS government. Feelings and faith should not stand in the way of facts and science.

[@frankmiller95]

The audio recordings of the bridge communications are, or were, available on GCaptain. As someone who has been an officer on the bridge of ship at sea, they are absolutely chilling and heartbreaking.

[@streetblaze290]

Tote owns the audio. They have not made it public even to the families

[@AKJR770]

Breaks my heart.

[@othername1000]

Reposting after 10 months. Anybody know where the recording of the Board meeting for this is?

[@MassEffectFan113]

What Captain feels that sailing into a Hurricane is a good idea?

[@stuartlee6622]

A lesbian.

[@josephastier7421]

7:02 After falling through nearly three miles of water, El Faro hit the bottom HARD.

[@alayneperrott9693]

How terrifying to be sailing under a captain who could not or would not defy the company and take a sensible course of action!

[@jumpingjeffflash9946]

Cindy Fitzgibbon is the first weather forecaster in this video, she's up here in Boston.

[@SaveDaLastZombie]

I'd definitely toss her 🥗

[@wilburkookmeyer024]

Does anyone else see the face in the in the navigation bridge at 7:31 😳 That's King Neptune himself watching over the lost souls...RIP Danielle and Dylan , Rockland, Maine will never forget 💔

[@Chardonbois]

Discussed in detail in L. David Marquet's book 'Leadership is Language' when addressing leadership culture.

[@ripwednesdayadams]

why do the investigation videos vary so wildly in quality between federal agencies? just seems weird that the USCB puts out these amazing, concise videos that explain everything that happened. and the ntsb puts out… this.

[@jessicam5712]

The ntsb has its own channel? How am I supposed to get any work done? Let alone sleep?

[@anthonygambitta6220]

Remember, 2015 was an ELNino year, but it really takes one major Hurricane to make it a catastrophic tragedy.

[@LasVegas68]

How is the NTSB going to save the crew if they have Captain Nemo at the Helm!

[@johnmcdevitt3805]

Question - Why couldn’t the crew abandon ship and board the life boats to ride out the storm...?

[@michaelboyd856]

The captain has total say on any given ship. That means a crew can't abandon the ship before its captain gives the official order-which Davidson didn't do until about 10 minutes before the El Faro sank. Even if he had given the order sooner, there isn't any guarantee that it would've saved lives. The El Faro was only equipped with two, (very) old-fashioned, open-air lifeboats-the kind that you would've found on the Titanic. Those boats work fine if the seas are calm, but needless to say, the seas were not calm on 10/01/15. Their only other option (and the one Davidson seemed to prefer, based on his final orders) would've been the inflatable, open-air liferafts. Those are better than open-air lifeboats, but probably wouldn't have been sufficient in a Category 4 hurricane. Chances are that Davidson felt safer on the ship. We do know that at least one crew member (although we don't know which one) was able to don an "immersion suit" during the evacuation, which means that he or she either successfully abandoned ship or (more likely) was just about to; unfortunately, it wasn't enough to save them. Everyone loves to blame Captain Davidson for the accident, but I don't think that's totally fair. To be sure, he deserves a fair amount-okay, a lot-of the blame, but I don't understand how we can so easily overlook Tote's decision not to provide El Faro with modern lifeboats, nor why the Coast Guard was willing to "grandfather" El Faro despite her shortcomings. There's also the question of how much pressure Davidson was under from the company to make his run on time (the answer: probably a lot). I feel horrible for the crew-like this deep, harrowing remorse for the poor souls on board. We really ought to be doing more to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.

[@aslater5]

It was a hurricane! Besides, most modern ships nowadays have these enclosed lifeboats where you just strap in and but these were open lifeboats, they would’ve flipped in a second in those conditions.

[@charlesfaure1189]

Ride out a level 4 hurricane in an open lifeboat? They'd be just as dead.

[@johnmcdevitt3805]

A lot of blame to go around. I had no idea that the ship had OPEN lifeboats. I thought there were safety standards. Shame on the ships owners.

[@gjerrildkro]

The captain thought he was Tom Brady. He said "run it". Referring to his doomed voyage plan. New Englander in october. Run it, I'm wiser than a hurricane and you are my fearless slaves.

[@freemindthinkerezrapound5071]

It's just like the old captain's of aeroplanes who alone had singular power over all decisions that power has to be taken away from a sea captain and put in the hands of the top 3 in the wheelhouse

[@Hojiii]

So incredibly sad. Was the Captain suicidal?

[@CriticalMaster95]

This seems very similar to the Edmund Fitzgerald disaster. Both ships drove into storms and both sank with the loss of all crewmembers.

[@frankmiller95]

Not similar at all.

[@pipelayer4270]

26 months? The ship sailed into a large hurricane and sank.

[@C_AVATAR]

Yep, I that's the shortest wasy to put it. ALso, I bet if you asked on a ship would you willingly and knowingly SAIL into a HURRICANE? I'm sure almost all the answers would be hell no! Except for Dumb Davidson.

[@WHITE_DEATH632]

Make this a movie please

[@lisaboylen8416]

Very sad story for all it just seems like it's Captain would have been a little more open about what his crew was advising him they may have made it God bless them all

[@zerozerohero7189]

"telepresence". nice reference to Dr. Ballard there

[@merediths2cents]

The company didn’t drive through the storm. I understand lack of regular maintenance but this tragedy was all Mike Davis.

[@gerryortiz8324]

Seems the biggest problem was the Captain’s decision making probably due to external pressure from his superiors.

[@charlesfaure1189]

There was pressure. When you are responsible for the lives of your crew, your DUTY is to make the right decision, pressure or no. Davidson was as guilty as anyone at TOTE. He was, after all, part of TOTE management and not a common sailor. "I was just following orders" is not an excuse here. Can't pass the buck here.

[@gingermiller4046]

Read " Into the Raging Sea ". There was more at work than a storm and the behavior afterwards, by everyone involved, was disgraceful.

[@SourBogBubble]

😥😭

[@stringandreed]

Yes we see that the NTSB has made many recommendations. Unfortunately it has absolutely no authority to carry them out. So what is really been done? Nothing.

[@SB9P4]

But why that ship with those people go to the ocean with a powerful hurricane near? sound crazy

[@michaelboyd856]

El Faro was actually making an important run to Puerto Rico. Without the supplies on the ship, there probably would've been shortages on the island. Because TOTE was really the only shipping company making consistent deliveries to PR, they felt it was important to make the run. That being said, nothing should force a crew to undertake a suicide mission. The crew pleaded with Davidson to take an alternate route. So why didn't he? A few reasons. The first was that TOTE was a very greedy company that didn't want to spend fuel money on a longer route, even though most ships choose to add ≈ 6 hours to their trips as an extra precaution against Tropical Storm Joaquin. TOTE didn't, so far as we know, tell Captain Davidson to stick to the usual route, but we do know that they had been upset with his decision to avoid a tropical storm earlier that year. Most likely, he was worried about his job. The second reason is that Joaquin wasn't expected to develop into a Category 4 hurricane; the strength shouldn't have mattered anyway, since Joaquin was supposed to turn northward before it hit El Faro. Instead, Joaquin continued towards the Bahamas, picking up strength from the warm Caribbean water. Lastly, even when it became clear that El Faro was on a collision course with Joaquin, the Captain decided to rely on a weather forecasting app that, unknown to him, was using old data to make its predicitons, which would've prevented him from learning about Joquin's deviations from the forecast until it was too late.

[@samsngdevice5103]

Sounds like the Duluth Minnesota Edmond Fitzgerald sinking. Sounds like the captain has Atention deficits disorder.

[@Perich29]

It's the cargo titanic that sank.

[@brianoriorden9748]

steaming directly into the path of the hurricane seemed unnecessary ... l feel sorry for the families of the crew.

[@jesush.christ3003]

the fact they were allowed to depart is beyond wreckless and irresponsible. rip to those men and women

[@jcraigshelton]

The critical failure points are too numerous to count. Was this a case of pure hubris on the part of the captain? As an aside, I find it curious that the NTSB, a supposedly impartial agency, would chose to employ a soundtrack and theatrics in a presentation.

[@ricksadler797]

But can they override a I’ll advised cptn ??

[@CryptoMafia]

I was a welder for tote and was supposed to be on the ship but I got VD and needed treatment

[@oldcrone]

Think twice before you trust your life to a captain.

[@CreepinCreeper01]

Good to see my tax dollars at work to bring this level of video production to an unspeakable disaster.

[@johnokeefe1739]

Where was she registered? Jok

[@drums1264]

Human Life is more precious than cargo, why didn't He just turn around!....I can imagine the Horror they must have all went through!....Shame

[@grouperkng1]

Too worried about losing his job

[@aslater5]

Human life was not more important to the company. The book makes it clear that there was a previous occasion where a captain avoided a storm and the storm did not turn out to be a hurricane, it just kind of petered out and the company did not appreciate that. They felt that the captain had added days to the voyage and each day was another $40,000 worth of fuel. So basically the company was encouraging people to take chances, by having that attitude.

[@TheAlfrulz]

I'm here because of an Vanity Fair magazine article back in 2018.

[@williamstade8901]

They took too old a ship into too high winds and seas?

[@mikegallegos7]

What happened was, the ship was sailed straight into the path of a hurricane in which a poorly maintained and operated vessel was doomed.

[@C_AVATAR]

Exactly! Might I add? if you asked anyone on a ship would you knowingly sail into a hurricane? I can guess what the answer would be. SMH.

[@SaveDaLastZombie]

I would. Would be a scary, fun, and an extremely thrilling adventure.

[@mygirlsadie1]

Could any ship make it through a hurricane though? Right through the eye of a hurricane like this one tried to do?

[@charlesfaure1189]

Drove into a hurricand without bothering to do a walking inspection of the scuttles. Unbelievable.

[@shawnesoutherland]

Perhaps a call over to the USCSB, see if maybe ya'll can borrow their production team. Just saying

[@acjohn6995]

Communication needs to happen a lot faster in an emergency situation.

[@charlesfaure1189]

By the time Davidson called in for help, he was a dead man floating. A phone call wasn't going to do any good. He had the information to keep his ship safe but his fecklessness proved the end of him--and 32 others.

[@acjohn6995]

@@charlesfaure1189 I'm saying that he should have gotten his weather updates faster with more accurate information, consulted immediately with superiors and made better decisions.