The National Transportation Safety Board has released video showing the wreckage of the container ship El Faro, which sunk near the Bahamas in October during Hurricane Joaquin.
All 33 crew members aboard the ship were killed when it sank on October 1 during a trip from Jacksonville, Florida, to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The U.S. Coast Guard searched for the ship and its crew for six days, locating a survival suit with unidentified human remains and debris from a life boat. The ship was located at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean on October 31. They did not find the remains of the crew or personal items.
The video was recorded by a CURV-21 remotely operated vehicle. The 790-foot cargo ship was found by the U.S. Navy using sonar at a depth of 15,000 feet. The voyage data recorder was not found.
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(National Transportation Safety Board)
“Over the years we’ve completed many investigations without the aid of recorders and other investigative tools,” NTSB Chairman Christopher A. Hart said in a statement. “While it is disappointing that the voyage data recorder was not located, we are hopeful that we’ll be able to determine the probable cause of this tragedy and the factors that may have contributed to it.”
The ship was operated by TOTE Maritime and was captained by Michael Davidson. Several families have filed lawsuits against the company.