DISASTROUS INDIFFERENCE: The Loss of SS El Faro

On October 1st, 2015 the Ro-Con ship El Faro plunged directly into Hurricane Joaquin, a Category 4 storm near the bahamas. This tragedy was the result of long-term negligence, poor decision making, complacency & indifference.

*Views presented are my own and the appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), NTSB & any other entities' visual information does not imply or constitute their endorsement.

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▶ A B O U T
Hey, I'm Sam! Child of the 80s turned Parent, Traveler, & Bumbling/Stumbling Nostalgic, Sentimental Creator. With a background in Logistics & Supply Chain Management, Industrial Robotics and a passion for Workplace Safety... half the time I know about 50% what I'm doing!

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[winstoncupfan]

My cousin Dylan was on this ship, it was his first job soon after graduating from Maine maritime academy. Rest In Peace

[kolsen]

Worked on this ship in Tacoma when she was the Northern Lights. Every time it hit port in Tacoma, the ship repair crew (20 of us or more) I was on were waiting. We worked like mad right up to the time of departure to fix the biggest problems. She was a rusty tub that none of us shipyarders would even think of going off shore on. When she got too scary to run to Anchorage, they sent her to the Caribbean instead of the scrap yard to get a few more years of revenue out of her. Corporate greed at its finest. Ship is heavily insured, crew is replaceable.

[Bpilot]

I sailed as a cadet on the El. Morro. I have never seen such a flagrant disregard for safety in my entire life. One instance I remember we were being audited by ABS. The chief mate kept trying to distract the inspector from the rusted out fire mains. We were required to test the fire system. The fire main would blow out and we had to fix the holes. The strange thing was that it looked freshly painted but had big blisters every few feet. These blisters were wraps of duct tape over rust spots that were painted over that would blow out when the water was turned on. During that event, the cargo door to the aft hold was closed. Not only did the fire main not work, as the water rushed out on deck, it flowed freely down to the aft cargo hold even though it was closed. The aft cargo hold has a passage way to the engine room on tbe port side. Here we are sitting at the dock with water from a busted fire main leaking though the cargo hold door, running down and into the engine room. I can’t image what green water would have been like flowing into the engine room. This was just a minor thing I witnessed during my time on the ship. Sea star should be liable for everything. Yes, you can blame the crew as I did the chief mate in my experience, but it is the company that is responsible for the safety culture. Precious lives lost.

[AlixMarx]

I work for a Marine supply company in Jacksonville. The owner was discussing this disaster the other day and talked about Danielle Randolph and other crew members she had worked with over the years.

To those of you in the comments who had family on board, please know that your loved ones are still mourned by people in the industry and remembered by those who occasionally worked with them.

[Operngeist]

That the 2nd mate knew what would happen but the Captain didn't take her seriously always seemed like the most tragic part of this story. Her messages to her loved ones are heartbreaking.

[honzahalamka]

Hearing how much the other officers were concerned, it makes you think that there are times when mutiny is perfectly acceptable

[Doxiemama]

My friend's Cousin was lost at sea in the El Faro disaster. He had only been a crew member employed with Tote less than 3 months. He left behind a fiancee and two children, under 6 years old. He mentioned Capt. Davidson was full of himself, stubborn and prideful. His selfishness (and corporate greed) cost lives and irreparably tore families apart.
RIP to all who perished and the families dealing with unfathomable loss.

[FinalFinishDetail]

My Sister was 2nd mate Danielle Randolph, thank you for this great video, gave me some closure. To the entire 33 crewmembers, you are still missed loved and heald dear in our hearts and minds.

NBR.

[zmer]

It’s really hard not to be incredibly angry at that captain. He was betting on people’s lives and pretty much killed everyone on board. Plenty of times there was opportunity to avoid disaster. RIP to the crew.

[mikedebear]

I worked at the terminal in Tacoma when this ship was named Northern Lights. It took so much damage during one Alaskan storm that almost the entire crew quit the moment it returned to port. Apparently the 65' swells resulted in 60% of the ship being out of the water as it fell down the backside of each wave. It would accelerate to 36 knots and then bury itself into the front of the next wave driving it nearly to a halt as the steel screamed and twisted enough to put a 45 foot crack laterally along the spar deck and 30 foot vertically. The ship was rolling laterally within a half degree of capsizing for 36 hours and the crew had to remain strapped into their bunks listening to the ship shriek as the roll on containers were breaking free and slamming around on all decks.

No one blamed the crew for walking after the details came out about the crossing.

[cunard]

I was with the US Army's Transportation Corp during this vessels service in the Iraq war, when it was named the Northern Lights. It came over to Kuwait many times bringing Army equipment, and I was onboard the ship when that equipment was being unloaded. I remember how poor the ships condition was even then, many referring to it as a "rust bucket". They were using the same tie-down method mention in the video, that is, laying down tie-down chains along the deck to serve as tie-down points for vehicles, because there weren't enough D-rings in the deck itself. The cargo decks themselves actually sagged because the weight limits for vehicles being carried, exceeded the registered capacity. The rubber seals around the cargo hatch in the ships side were pretty much mangled from dry rot and constant opening and closing. The ships government contract ended around 2008, and then it began it's long periods of lay-up. I honestly thought it would be scrapped when it ended it's military contract, it really was in horrible shape.

[banjoman]

My good friend and engineering Mentor was the Chief engineer of this trip, he was an incredibly competent engineer i know he did everything he could to get that steam plant back online again. I miss him and I hope he and the other 32 crew on board have found peace! He will be remembered for the incredible person he was.

[christianhedegaard]

As a container ship captain myself, this is a very thorough explanation to what most likely happened to this unfortunate crew. From lacking bridge resource management to insufficient maintenance and even to explaining the possible reasons the captain may have had to choose this perilous voyage execution. Well done! Excellent investigation report.

[jyjsarang]

Anybody who's watched a few analyses of plane crashes knows that CRM is REALLY important. Subordinate crew members have literally allowed their captain to fly into the side of a mountain rather than take corrective action. And disasters have been averted by good CRM where captain and crew are able to cooperate.

[Rick_Hoppe]

I remember following the El Faro incident in real time, as it was happening, and thinking, “Why in the heck are they heading straight toward the hurricane? This is insane!”

[Jameman]

“It was like this every day in Alaska”

I’m fairly confident it was not Category 3 hurricane every single day

[laughingram]

I sailed on this ship in 1996 as the SS Northern Lights from Tacoma to Anchorage. My previous ship was a super tanker, so this ship was nice and compact. The most dangerous thing on this ship for me was walking on the cargo deck as the longshoremen raced the tractors around the decks loading containers.

Watching this video was so sad and at the same time so frustrating!

As a former merchant mariner, one tends to put their trust in the captain in the ship to make wise decisions. Your safety is in their hands.

Ram
Chief Engineer (retired)

[tired_cathp]

The fact that the captain didn't know that his ship is on point with an eye of a hurricane is beyond words to describe the pure fear of being lost at sea.

[MandyD]

Danielle had more brains and forethought than the Captain. I can only imagine how hard this has been for her family knowing she screamed warnings and alarms only for her to lose her life while the Captain blathered away about Alaska. This is a seriously sad and frustrating situation that never should've happened.