Posted on Dec 12, 2017
NTSB Video Details Sinking of US Cargo Vessel SS El Faro – gCaptain
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I will be shocked if Tote Marine isn't sued out of existence for all the culpability they have in this incident. Sub-standard maintenance and training. Dispensing faulty weather information. The list goes on and on. Anyway, here is the NTSB's minute-by-minute video right up until she slipped beneath the waves. Those that go down to the sea...
I'm including the text of the last few moments recorded on the VDR below. Pretty harrowing if you imagine the situation.
The VDR transcript of the final hours described a quickly deteriorating situation.
At 5:43 am, the captain takes a phone call indicating suspected flooding in the no. 3 cargo hold and sends the chief mate to investigate. The crew then begin taking measures to try to assess and control the flooding.[26]:415-416
At 6:13 am, the ship loses its steam propulsion plant.[26]:439 |<-- This right here was the end of her, though the captain refused to see it. (Commentary is mine) |
At 6:54 am, the captain takes a phone call describing the situation onboard:
"It’s miserable right now. We got all the uhh—all the wind on the starboard side here. Now a scuttle was left open or popped open or whatever so we got some flooding down in three hold—a significant amount. Umm, everybody’s safe right now, we’re not gonna abandon ship—we’re gonna stay with the ship. We are in dire straits right now. Okay, I’m gonna call the office and tell ’em [expletives]. Okay? Umm there’s no need to ring the general alarm yet—we’re not abandoning ship. The engineers are trying to get the plant back. So we’re working on it—okay?"[26]:467
At 7:06 am, the captain makes a phone call, stating:
"I have a marine emergency and I would like to speak with a QI. We had a hull breach- a scuttle [hatch] blew open during the storm. We have water down in three hold. We have a heavy list. We've lost the main propulsion unit. The engineers can not get it goin'. Can I speak with a QI please?"[26]:475
"We have uhh secured the source of water coming in to the vessel. uh, A scuttle was blown open... it's since been closed. However, uh, three hold's got a considerable amount of water in it. Uh, we have a very, very healthy port list. The engineers cannot get lube oil pressure on the plant, therefore we've got no main engine, and let me give you um a latitude and longitude. I just wanted to give you a heads up before I push that- push that button."[26]:476
"The crew is safe. Right now we're trying to save the ship now, but uh all available hands. We are forty-eight miles east of San Salvador. We are taking every measure to take the list off. By that I mean pump out that- pump out that hold the best we can but we are not gaining ground at this time."[26]:477
"Right now it's a little hard to tell because all the wind is... on that side too so we got a good wind heel goin'. But it's not getting any better."[26]:478
"[We're] gonna stay with the ship... no one's panicking, everybody's been made aware... Our safest bet is to stay with the ship during this particular time. The weather is ferocious out here and we're gonna stay with the ship... swell is out the northeast, a solid ten to twelve feet (over) spray, high winds, very poor visibility..."[26]:478
At 7:10 am, the captain tells someone on the phone that they have a ten to fifteen degree list, "but a lot of that's with the wind heel."[26]:480 He lets the person know he will be making a distress call to the USCG, and then directs the second mate to activate the SSAS button/GMDSS alarm, and directs him to wake everybody up.[26]:481-482
At 7:15 am, the chief mate returns to the bridge:
Chief mate: "I think that the water level's rising Captain."
Captain: "(okay). Do you know where it's comin' from?"
Chief Mate: "(at) first the Chief said something hit the fire main. Got it ruptured. Hard."
Captain: "Um, there's no way to secure that?"
Chief Mate: "We don't know if they still have any pressure on the fire main or not. Don't know where's sea - between the sea suction and the hull or what uh but anything I say is a guess."[26]:483
At 7:17 am, the chief engineer informs the chief mate and the captain over the sound powered phone that the bilge alarm is going off in "two alpha."[26]:485 The captain asks the chief if he can pump out all of the cargo holds at the same time, and discusses the worsening list.[26]:486 The chief mate informs the captain that the cars are floating in #3 cargo hold, and that the fire main is below the surface of the water, so he couldn't see the damage or if water was still coming in.[26]:487-488
At 7:19 am, after further discussion with the chief mate, the captain calls the chief engineer again, asking, "Can you... isolate the fire main from down in the uh engine room?... On the engine room side the isolation valve [on the] suction [for the] fire pump... secure it, isolate it on your side so there's no free communication from the sea."[26]:489-490
At 7:24 am, the captain, speaking with a crew member on the phone, says "We still got reserve buoyancy and stability."[26]:493
At 7:27 am, the captain instructs the second mate to ring the general alarm and wake up the crew.[26]:493
At 7:29 am, the captain gives the order to abandon ship, and about a minute later can be heard on the bridge calling out "bow is down, bow is down."[26]:499-500
At 7:31 am, the captain yells over the UHF radio for the chief mate to "Get into your rafts! Throw all your rafts into the water! Everybody get off! Get off the ship! Stay together!"[26]:501
From 7:32 am on, the captain is heard trying to help a panicked helmsman/AB off the bridge with alarms ringing throughout.[26]:502 The captain repeatedly tells the AB not to panic: "work your way up here,"[26]:504 "you're okay, come on,"[26]:505 and "I'm not leavin' you, let's go!"[26]:507 The AB exclaims, "I need a ladder! A line!"[26]:506 and "I need someone to help me!"[26]:507
At 7:39 am, the VDR recording ends with the captain and AB still on the bridge.[26]:509
I'm including the text of the last few moments recorded on the VDR below. Pretty harrowing if you imagine the situation.
The VDR transcript of the final hours described a quickly deteriorating situation.
At 5:43 am, the captain takes a phone call indicating suspected flooding in the no. 3 cargo hold and sends the chief mate to investigate. The crew then begin taking measures to try to assess and control the flooding.[26]:415-416
At 6:13 am, the ship loses its steam propulsion plant.[26]:439 |<-- This right here was the end of her, though the captain refused to see it. (Commentary is mine) |
At 6:54 am, the captain takes a phone call describing the situation onboard:
"It’s miserable right now. We got all the uhh—all the wind on the starboard side here. Now a scuttle was left open or popped open or whatever so we got some flooding down in three hold—a significant amount. Umm, everybody’s safe right now, we’re not gonna abandon ship—we’re gonna stay with the ship. We are in dire straits right now. Okay, I’m gonna call the office and tell ’em [expletives]. Okay? Umm there’s no need to ring the general alarm yet—we’re not abandoning ship. The engineers are trying to get the plant back. So we’re working on it—okay?"[26]:467
At 7:06 am, the captain makes a phone call, stating:
"I have a marine emergency and I would like to speak with a QI. We had a hull breach- a scuttle [hatch] blew open during the storm. We have water down in three hold. We have a heavy list. We've lost the main propulsion unit. The engineers can not get it goin'. Can I speak with a QI please?"[26]:475
"We have uhh secured the source of water coming in to the vessel. uh, A scuttle was blown open... it's since been closed. However, uh, three hold's got a considerable amount of water in it. Uh, we have a very, very healthy port list. The engineers cannot get lube oil pressure on the plant, therefore we've got no main engine, and let me give you um a latitude and longitude. I just wanted to give you a heads up before I push that- push that button."[26]:476
"The crew is safe. Right now we're trying to save the ship now, but uh all available hands. We are forty-eight miles east of San Salvador. We are taking every measure to take the list off. By that I mean pump out that- pump out that hold the best we can but we are not gaining ground at this time."[26]:477
"Right now it's a little hard to tell because all the wind is... on that side too so we got a good wind heel goin'. But it's not getting any better."[26]:478
"[We're] gonna stay with the ship... no one's panicking, everybody's been made aware... Our safest bet is to stay with the ship during this particular time. The weather is ferocious out here and we're gonna stay with the ship... swell is out the northeast, a solid ten to twelve feet (over) spray, high winds, very poor visibility..."[26]:478
At 7:10 am, the captain tells someone on the phone that they have a ten to fifteen degree list, "but a lot of that's with the wind heel."[26]:480 He lets the person know he will be making a distress call to the USCG, and then directs the second mate to activate the SSAS button/GMDSS alarm, and directs him to wake everybody up.[26]:481-482
At 7:15 am, the chief mate returns to the bridge:
Chief mate: "I think that the water level's rising Captain."
Captain: "(okay). Do you know where it's comin' from?"
Chief Mate: "(at) first the Chief said something hit the fire main. Got it ruptured. Hard."
Captain: "Um, there's no way to secure that?"
Chief Mate: "We don't know if they still have any pressure on the fire main or not. Don't know where's sea - between the sea suction and the hull or what uh but anything I say is a guess."[26]:483
At 7:17 am, the chief engineer informs the chief mate and the captain over the sound powered phone that the bilge alarm is going off in "two alpha."[26]:485 The captain asks the chief if he can pump out all of the cargo holds at the same time, and discusses the worsening list.[26]:486 The chief mate informs the captain that the cars are floating in #3 cargo hold, and that the fire main is below the surface of the water, so he couldn't see the damage or if water was still coming in.[26]:487-488
At 7:19 am, after further discussion with the chief mate, the captain calls the chief engineer again, asking, "Can you... isolate the fire main from down in the uh engine room?... On the engine room side the isolation valve [on the] suction [for the] fire pump... secure it, isolate it on your side so there's no free communication from the sea."[26]:489-490
At 7:24 am, the captain, speaking with a crew member on the phone, says "We still got reserve buoyancy and stability."[26]:493
At 7:27 am, the captain instructs the second mate to ring the general alarm and wake up the crew.[26]:493
At 7:29 am, the captain gives the order to abandon ship, and about a minute later can be heard on the bridge calling out "bow is down, bow is down."[26]:499-500
At 7:31 am, the captain yells over the UHF radio for the chief mate to "Get into your rafts! Throw all your rafts into the water! Everybody get off! Get off the ship! Stay together!"[26]:501
From 7:32 am on, the captain is heard trying to help a panicked helmsman/AB off the bridge with alarms ringing throughout.[26]:502 The captain repeatedly tells the AB not to panic: "work your way up here,"[26]:504 "you're okay, come on,"[26]:505 and "I'm not leavin' you, let's go!"[26]:507 The AB exclaims, "I need a ladder! A line!"[26]:506 and "I need someone to help me!"[26]:507
At 7:39 am, the VDR recording ends with the captain and AB still on the bridge.[26]:509
NTSB Video Details Sinking of US Cargo Vessel SS El Faro – gCaptain
Posted from gcaptain.com
Sailors
Maritime
Naval/Maritime History
Edited 7 y ago
Posted 7 y ago
Responses: 2
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Greg - I still do not understand how anyone thought this was safe to be that close to a hurricane
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LTC Orlando Illi
My Dad told me what is was like in a Fletcher Class Destroyer in the Pacific in a Typhoon in 1945. He was 17, just out of Bainbridge, MD and on his first ship in the engine room. It was not a fun time he said. He would always comment when if we watched the Caine Mutiny - that a Destroyer in a Typhoon was like a cork in a river.
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LT Brad McInnis
LTC Orlando Illi It is why when I was a Chief Engineer, my sole focus was maintaining propulsion. Without that, everything else becomes real problematic like Greg said above...
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LTC Orlando Illi
My Dad eventually became a Chief Machinists Mate. He also told me the story of when he got his Arctic Circle Blue Nose Certificate (which I have) on a Gearing Class Destroyer. and how traversed 35 foot seas in the North Atlantic in December. I can remember being on the 83,000 Ton Holland America Nordamn in 25 foot seas and feeling the ship rock back and forth. I can't imagine 35 foot seas buttoned up in the Engine Room of a Gearing Class Destroyer in the Arctic. Yeah, I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane - but you sailors got huge gonads. The sea is unforgiving.....
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SN Greg Wright
LTC Orlando Illi - Remember that that 35 foot wave comes with a 35 foot trough too, Colonel. Meaning that ship is falling 70 feet on the backside of it. Thankfully, I've never been on a smallboy like that in weather like that, but I was in a 100 year storm once on a 300k-ton VLCC, and even that was terrifying.
LT Brad McInnis
LT Brad McInnis
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People forget how dangerous the sea is... a few wrong decisions can be very deadly. This was a very easy to follow chain of errors. Unfortunately, many times you don't see the chain when you are in it... sad for all. You are right Greg, Tote is going to get toasted on this.
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