We know that the ro/ro El Faro sank with all hands after it lost power in the path of Hurricane Joaquin in early October. The captain reported a hull breach. All 33 crew were lost. We may never know too much more. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has announced that it has completed its search and video documentation of the sunken El Faro, which was located at a depth of 15,000 feet underwater. The Voyage Data Recorder (VDR), the so-called “black box,” which might have provided answers to additional questions about the sinking, was not found, however. From the NTSB press release:
On Nov. 11, the navigation bridge was found but neither the mast nor the VDR was found in the vicinity of the navigation bridge structure.
After five more days of searching with CURV-21, it was determined that the VDR could not be located. The search and video documentation efforts of El Faro were completed on Nov. 15. No further search missions are planned.
Why am I just a little angry this morning ? Could it be that the “new norm” of the sea is to abandon those lost and add to what will be called a “cover-up” in some quarters.
When I first started working part time in 1950’s in fishing boats sailing the South Coast of Ireland the tradition of mariners was to find those lost. Bodies were recovered and given a respectable burial if possible in their own village graveyard. It had been a tradition that each fishing village had a particular design on their sea jerseys to help identify the body to bring the remains home.
Now it seems that the USCG abandons bodies after a quick search no doubt based on cost effectiveness rules. The NTSB also it seems abandons VDR search at the first excuse.
I wonder how the people making these decisions face themselves in the mirror in the morning.
Good Watch.
I understand your response. Nevertheless, 15,000 feet is very deep and was wholly unreachable not that many years ago. The bridge deck was apparently found roughly a mile from the primary wreckage. According to the NTSB, the mast on which the VDR was mounted is missing, apparently carried away when the ship sank. It could be close by or carried some considerable distance away when the ship traveled down three miles to the ocean floor.
How long should the NTSB have searched? Were conditions on the bottom such that the VDR was likely ever to be found? Was the decision to stop the search made on a practical grounds or was it based on solely on cost? I don’t the answers to any of these questions.
Indeed.
Now comparing the cost to the astronomical cost and time given for the search for crashed airliners at sea such as the Air France, and Malaysian Airlines which found their VDR’s.
Hmmm – seems mariners are that important.
Good Watch.
I wouldn’t disagree.
Of couse this decision is bogus. The families and all mariners deserve to know the truth about the sinking and if recovering the VDR is not possible, at least they can say they tried. Up to now it has been a race against the pocketbook and it seems that NTSB, ABS, USCG, Tote el al figured that “we have spent enough.” No you have not and this abandonment of those sailors says it all. We need one voice to speak for merchant mariners and it should be asking “why are we quitting before we know the whole story.” Not some dry NTSB report 6 months from now, with their usual pie chart of blame that covers all bases. So we know that they have been fair. The crew of El Faro demand better of us.
I’m surprised that VDRs are not float free, akin to an EPIRB. For that matter, why not integrate a copy of VDR data into the EPIRB? Technically quite possible. Taking the El Faro’s laughable 19th-century lifeboats which apparently were intended as a box-ticker to allow operation in Alaskan waters in winter as an example, passive if not actively hostile regulatory compliance is about the best we see from ship owners. Volunteering to back the paltry expense of adding useful VDR enhancements is about as likely as the owners sprouting wings and flying away.
Some VDRs are designed to float free. Others are fixed, as was apparently the case on EL Faro. Newer versions can incorporate EPIRBs. The underwater locator beacon on the El Faro VDR apparently was designed to last 30 days. The requirements for new VDR locator beacons is for a 90-day battery which might have made all the difference. Then again, the VDR might have been destroyed or damaged when the ship’s bridge deck was ripped from the deckhouse when the ship sank.