Missing El Faro Found?
El Faro disappeared on Oct. 1 en route from Jacksonville, Florida, to Puerto Rico in the worst cargo shipping disaster involving a U.S.-flagged vessel since 1983, after the captain reported a “hull breach” and said a hatch had blown open. Most of El Faro’s crew were American.
U.S. Naval Ship Apache using sonar equipment discovered the wreckage on Saturday in the area of El Faro’s last known position at a depth of 15,000 feet (4,572 meters), the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a statement.
NTSB officials said on Oct. 20 that the captain, aside from saying in a recorded satellite phone call that the El Faro was taking on water in one of the holds, had reported it had lost its main propulsion unit and engineers could not restart it.
The cargo ship’s owner, New Jersey-based Tote Inc, has stated that loss of propulsion likely spelled the ship’s doom.
It was not yet clear if the hull breach was directly related to the loss of propulsion.
Tote Services filed for protection in federal court in Florida on Friday, citing U.S. maritime law and saying the ship was “seaworthy and properly manned” and that the company bears no responsibility for its loss.
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