I've been following this thread - thanks for chiming in, people with blue-water experience. And thanks, LITS, for the explanation of Loran. Here and Now had Capt. Joseph Murphy on the program on Monday, explaining how this could happen and, specifically, how such a large ship could list, capsize, and sink. I recommend listening to the interview, if you can invest the time, but basically his explanation was, it's a hurricane. With 40-foot seas and 140-knot winds, there are very few seagoing vessels that could withstand that battering. It would have made deploying the lifeboats, egressing the ship and entering the lifeboats nigh impossible. Mother Nature is merciless and more powerful than we give her credit.
For a while in the 90s, I was an instructor in NOLS, and I saw our crews and instructors go through the same kind of evolution. Stage 1 is, I'm a little scared, but I trust you guys. Stage 2 is, I'm strong, I'm invincible, I can handle anything, BRING IT. A lot of people stop there. A lot of people LIVE under the illusion that because they can turn up a thermostat, turn on a faucet, flip a switch and cook a meal, that they have bested nature. Technology only takes you so far. Forty-foot seas, 140-knot winds, no port to enter, no way off the ship, no one to negotiate with, no alternatives. Human beings can adapt to and overcome a lot of things, but sometimes there is a confluence of nature that makes it NOT POSSIBLE. And those people get to stage 3: I am strong, I am trained, I am clever, and I have my wits - but I am a speck of dust on a capricious planet, and I am at its mercy.
I have a feeling that's one of the lessons here.
http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2015/10/05/cargo-ship-el-faro-sinks