792 foot container ship sinks in 15,000 feet of water during hurricane near Bahamas

[Muse]

I read about this in today's paper. Mind blower --- 33 on board, all lost in all probability. It happened about 4-5 days ago. 140 MPH winds, ~50 foot waves. A hatch popped open, it took on some water, was listing 15 degrees, I guess at that point lost communications. They've found stuff, battered lifeboat, some other emergency stuff, container, a body. Coast Guard etc. searching, ship presumed sunk.

The ship developed some kind of mechanical problem and lost its main propulsion, floundered and couldn't execute the plan to outrace the hurricane, get to safe water before the storm came into its waters. It was a decision of the company to put forth from FL to the Bahamas. You really are at risk if you depend on mechanical equipment to save you from your demise. A union guy (for the crew, I guess) said the management was putting profits ahead of the safety of their personnel.

While nautical disasters remain a fact of life—everything from missing sailboats to deadly catastrophes like the Costa Concordia’s sinking or recent ferry disasters in Asia—it is exceptionally rare for a large ship like El Faro to disappear.

It’s Extremely Rare for Large Ships Like El Faro to Disappear

I read The Perfect Storm (before seeing the movie). Imagine being on that disabled cargo ship with that hurricane bearing down on it. The violence of the ship pitching in 50 foot seas. The crew were trained in how to abandon ships. They were in 85 degree waters, or so I deduced from the article I read. Still, the chances of crew members surviving seem slim. The article said that even in those temperature waters, hypothermia would occur swiftly.

 

[werepossum]

It's extremely rare for large ships to disappear because it's extremely uncommon for them to launch in front of a hurricane. If the company gave the order, that's negligent homocide. Every marine merchant deserves a better go-to-shit plan than "You all die and we file an insurance claim."

 

[unokitty]

One month short of the 40th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Lots of ways to die. Lots of better ways than sinking ...

RIP to the crew...

Uno

 

[Brainonska511]

It's extremely rare for large ships to disappear because it's extremely uncommon for them to launch in front of a hurricane. If the company gave the order, that's negligent homocide. Every marine merchant deserves a better go-to-shit plan than "You all die and we file an insurance claim."

To be fair, they didn't launch in front of a hurricane. It was still a tropical storm with the NWS stating it had the potential to become a hurricane when they left Florida.

 

[MomentsofSanity]

Their initial route was sound but they lost power and were adrift. Not much you can do then.

 

[Jaskalas]

To be fair, they didn't launch in front of a hurricane. It was still a tropical storm with the NWS stating it had the potential to become a hurricane when they left Florida.

Not only was it developing, but the move to the south is highly unusual. If all they did was follow the NHC track then they were doomed.

 

[Muse]

Their initial route was sound but they lost power and were adrift. Not much you can do then.

Only sound in the event that the ship's propulsion systems remained effective. Failing that, they were in major jeopardy as we found out.

 

[Jaskalas]

Are major shipping containers legally restrained to official shipping lanes?
Once they were on the north side of the Bahamas, would they be legally allowed to change course to cut through and south of the Islands?

 

[Londo_Jowo]

Are major shipping containers legally restrained to official shipping lanes?
Once they were on the north side of the Bahamas, would they be legally allowed to change course to cut through and south of the Islands?

No, they can take evasive actions if required. They could have anchored on the leeward side of one of the islands to reduce the effects of wind and sea.

 

[SlickSnake]

This is a tragic and bizarre story. Why didn't someone send out some rescue helicopters or a sea plane or something to save these guys BEFORE they all drowned? A full container ship is massively top heavy, and is just a disaster waiting to happen in rough seas, much less, a hurricane.

My guess is they put the engines under way too much strain while trying to get away from the hurricane. And under the circumstances any full container ships engines would probably fail for some reason while trying to use a full throttle on them. The engines aren't designed to be run at maximum horsepower when the ship is fully loaded with containers.

 

[Brainonska511]

This is a tragic and bizarre story. Why didn't someone send out some rescue helicopters or a sea plane or something to save these guys BEFORE they all drowned? A full container ship is massively top heavy, and is just a disaster waiting to happen in rough seas, much less, a hurricane.

Weather bad enough to sink an disabled container ship is likely also weather that makes it unsafe to mount rescue operations.

 

[SlickSnake]

Weather bad enough to sink an disabled container ship is likely also weather that makes it unsafe to mount rescue operations.

They mount rescue operations in unsafe weather conditions all the time. The question I have is; was anyone (besides possibly the shipping company) even aware they were there and dead in the water while there was still time to rescue them? And did the ship even have time to send out a distress call? The last contact said was the ship was listing, but the situation was manageable. How is that manageable when a ship is massively top heavy and trying to avoid a hurricane in the first place? That should have been the point they issued a distress call, and a rescue team of some sort should have been sent out as a precautionary measure, if nothing else, obviously.

 

[Hugo Drax]

This is a tragic and bizarre story. Why didn't someone send out some rescue helicopters or a sea plane or something to save these guys BEFORE they all drowned? A full container ship is massively top heavy, and is just a disaster waiting to happen in rough seas, much less, a hurricane.

My guess is they put the engines under way too much strain while trying to get away from the hurricane. And under the circumstances any full container ships engines would probably fail for some reason while trying to use a full throttle on them. The engines aren't designed to be run at maximum horsepower when the ship is fully loaded with containers.

Because sending those choppers would cost.

Better to throw the dice, worst case boat sinks and they claim insurance and hire a new staff of 33 and buy a new boat. Win/Win situation for the fatcats.

 

[Bubbleawsome]

There was a call to the CG, by then it was too late and no rescue could be performed. This isn't the fault of the crew, CG, or owners of the ship. It's bad luck in the face of a bad situation.

 

[Jaskalas]

Why didn't someone send out some rescue helicopters or a sea plane or something...

Because the Hurricane, of which they were in the middle of, was 155 MPH... 1 MPH short of Cat5. It was an absolutely brutal monster of a storm and I doubt anyone would survive a rescue attempt.

 

[Nebor]

I'm not a sailor, but it's stunning to me that such a large ship can sink due to large waves. How did it take on enough water to sink?

 

[stormkroe]

I wonder, and will google after this, how deep a sea-can is water proof to? Think of the people who may have been stowed away on one, sinking into the ocean

 

[Nebor]

I wonder, and will google after this, how deep a sea-can is water proof to? Think of the people who may have been stowed away on one, sinking into the ocean

My dealing with shipping containers say they're not waterproof at all. In your example, if they were waterproof, the people inside them would have suffocated on the deck on the boat.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I read about this in today's paper. Mind blower --- 33 on board, all lost in all probability. It happened about 4-5 days ago. 140 MPH winds, ~50 foot waves. A hatch popped open, it took on some water, was listing 15 degrees, I guess at that point lost communications. They've found stuff, battered lifeboat, some other emergency stuff, container, a body. Coast Guard etc. searching, ship presumed sunk.

The ship developed some kind of mechanical problem and lost its main propulsion, floundered and couldn't execute the plan to outrace the hurricane, get to safe water before the storm came into its waters. It was a decision of the company to put forth from FL to the Bahamas. You really are at risk if you depend on mechanical equipment to save you from your demise. A union guy (for the crew, I guess) said the management was putting profits ahead of the safety of their personnel.



It’s Extremely Rare for Large Ships Like El Faro to Disappear

I read The Perfect Storm (before seeing the movie). Imagine being on that disabled cargo ship with that hurricane bearing down on it. The violence of the ship pitching in 50 foot seas. The crew were trained in how to abandon ships. They were in 85 degree waters, or so I deduced from the article I read. Still, the chances of crew members surviving seem slim. The article said that even in those temperature waters, hypothermia would occur swiftly.

I read that the storm wasn't that strong when the ship set out. But yeah, losing power in heavy seas is very bad. You want to keep the bow pointed into the waves but the ship will naturally want to go broadside which makes it list quite badly when hit broadside by tall waves. Once she started taking on water it was probably all over. She could capsize and break apart.

The crew may have tried to abandon ship but even if they made it off they would be in the middle of hurricane force winds in a tiny lifeboat or raft which would be even worse.

Crazy to think about but the Edmund Fitzgerald was 729' in length and went down in gale force winds of about 50mph. Taking a ship 792' in length into a hurricane with 149mph winds seems like suicide.

 

[Humpy]

My guess is they put the engines under way too much strain while trying to get away from the hurricane. And under the circumstances any full container ships engines would probably fail for some reason while trying to use a full throttle on them. The engines aren't designed to be run at maximum horsepower when the ship is fully loaded with containers.

I saw that the captain did have it wide open, going around 20 knots, to try and outrun the storm and broke the engine.

With all the tools at his disposal this can't really be anything other than the captain making some bad decisions. With all the boats that are out there, there seems to always be a few goofballs that manage to get caught in the storm. Superstorm Sandy had the captain of that historic wooden ship sail right into it and sunk.

 

[Muse]

Because sending those choppers would cost.

Better to throw the dice, worst case boat sinks and they claim insurance and hire a new staff of 33 and buy a new boat. Win/Win situation for the fatcats.

Plus, the choppers picking up the crew would mean abandon ship, likely it would be a total loss in the hurricane. Leaving the crew on board improved their chances that the cargo/ship would be saved. The gamble was 33 lives vs loss of ship/cargo. Betting the lives improved the chances of saving the ship/cargo.

 

[werepossum]

To be fair, they didn't launch in front of a hurricane. It was still a tropical storm with the NWS stating it had the potential to become a hurricane when they left Florida.

Maybe it's so much time spent atop motorcycles but you ALWAYS have a go-to-shit plan. If I pull out into traffic and lose power, where do I go? (That hasn't happened in forty years - but it always could.) If I am coming up behind two stacked cars, overtaking at speed, and the rear driver pulls out to pass, where do I go? (This actually killed a friend of a friend this past year.) If the car next to me comes into my lane without looking, where do I go? I have four directions of movement, with each bounded by my ability to accelerate, decelerate, and then safely match speed again as well as bordering drivers' abilities.

It is much more critical when one is responsible for others. Large cargo ships typically cannot hold station in a tropical storm if they lose part of their drive train. Large cargo ships certainly can lose part or all of their drive trains, from a variety of factors. Put those two together and we have zero sense in attempting to launch in front of a tropical storm, which if it comes into shallow water will almost certainly develop into a hurricane.