LongAgoPlebe
10-Year Member
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2010
- Messages
- 493
Tragedy. 28 Americans and 5 Poles on board, she is assumed lost at sea?
With modern radar and weather forecasting, it's incredible to me that a 730' ship would sail into 150 mph hurricane winds.
There aren't many weather radars out in the middle of the ocean.
There aren't many weather radars out in the middle of the ocean.
Of course there are, they're called satellites and buoys and everyone and anyone can access their data at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ and http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/obs.shtml
It wasn't like this was a sudden tornado that came out of nowhere, this system has been tracked as a tropical depression and then as a tropical storm and then as a hurricane since it formed.
The captain and the shipping company were negligent for putting the cargo and crew in harms way.
A captain and the company he/she works for must make the best educated guess they can with the best information they have at the time.
Says the guy that has had exactly ZERO experience in trying to route his ship to avoid a tropical storm.. It's real easy for you while sitting in the 'cheap seats' to Monday morning quarterback.. It's a wee bit different when you have to make the call down on the field.. It's not as cut and dried as you might think..Can't believe that a US Flagged ship would sail into those conditions. Puts a lot of Coast Guard and other rescue personnel in danger. They are flying at 2K feet in a Hurricane trying to find this ship while Hurricane Hunters fly at over 10K. My Son is an Engineer on US Flagged vessels. I think it was Jacksonville to Puerto Rico run for the El Faro. Take a day and wait for the weather to change. If my son was on that ship and the Captain survived I would shoot him.
and tropical weather is even less so... It's very unpredictable. Unpredictability is why Typhoons and Hurricanes used to be given female names..Meteorology is not an exact science.
Unpredictability is why Typhoons and Hurricanes used to be given female names..
Sexist remark, uncalled for.
It's a wee bit different when you have to make the call down on the field. It's not as cut and dried as you might think..
The choices:
1. Waiting an extra day---cargo is late, delay costs, etc.
2. Leave despite the risk of sailing into a known Category 3/4 Hurricane---33 dead crew members, ship lost, cargo lost.
Unless they were carrying hearts and kidneys for transplant operations or life-saving medicine to a sick child, there is no cargo worth the risk.
The "My ship and crew can handle it" mentality of some people in command of vessels (and crew lives) is astonishing.
Same thing that sank the replica tall ship HMS Bounty during Hurricane/TS Sandy.
Sexist remark, uncalled for.
That's just absurd. In all my 34 years going to sea I have never seen that mentality displayed by any of the ship masters I sailed for. You make the best decisions you can based on the information you have at hand. There are pressures on ship masters you can't begin to comprehend. It's real easy looking at it in hindsight.. Despite exercising prudence and caution I got caught once; and let me tell you, it's scary and not a whole lot of fun.The "My ship and crew can handle it" mentality of some people in command of vessels (and crew lives) is astonishing.
The choices:
1. Waiting an extra day---cargo is late, delay costs, etc.
2. Leave despite the risk of sailing into a known Category 3/4 Hurricane---33 dead crew members, ship lost, cargo lost.
The "My ship and crew can handle it" mentality of some people in command of vessels (and crew lives) is astonishing.
Same thing that sank the replica tall ship HMS Bounty during Hurricane/TS Sandy.
good points Beyond, particularly the lost of the plant.. I overlooked mentioning those facts in my previous post. Also from everything I can see the last known position of the EL FARO was actually outside the 'cone of uncertainty' for the storms forecast positions at the time contact was lost..It was a weakening tropical storm when El Faro left Jacksonville. The loss of the plant was probably another significant factor in all of this.
At 20 knots and 735 feet you have options
At 20 knots and 735 feet you have options
If the ship couldn't sit at the port for the reasons mentioned, then why not head due east or NE. I can understand getting caught heading south and then having the storm continue west.
The storm was tracking at less than 20 knots.
Being in port, in a storm, isn't always the best thing for a ship (or the port). In fact, we would make hurricane plans for harbors of refuge during hurricane season because our homeport just wasn't safe.