0. Sinking of the EL FARO and loss of the crew
United States Coast Guard
Commandant’s Marine Board of Investigation
Formal Hearing Part 1
Sinking of the EL FARO and loss of the crew
October 1, 2015
No narration
Jacksonville, Florida
CG Exhibit 01

1. National Transportation Safety Board
Conducted with the full participation of the
National Transportation Safety Board
Narration: This hearing is being conducted with the full participation of the National Transportation Safety Board.
CG Exhibit 01

2. The First Hearing The first hearing session will focus on:
the pre-accident historical events relating to the loss,
the regulatory compliance record of the EL FARO,
crewmember duties and qualifications,
past operations of the vessel,
the Coast Guard’s Search and Rescue operations.
CG Exhibit 01

3. Purpose of the Investigation
Whether there is evidence that any failure of material (either physical or design) was involved or contributed to the casualty, so that proper recommendations for the prevention of the recurrence of similar casualties may be made;
Whether there is evidence that any act of misconduct, inattention to duty, negligence or willful violation of the law on the part of any licensed or certificated person contributed to the casualty, so that appropriate proceedings against the license or certificate of such person may be recommended and taken under 46 U.S.C. 6301; or
Whether there is evidence that any Coast Guard personnel or any representative or employee of any other government agency, or any other person, caused or contributed to the cause of the casualty;
The cause of the accident.
Narration: This slide details the purposes of this Public Hearing and the investigation as a whole.
CG Exhibit 01

4. TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico
TOTE Relationships
TOTE Inc.
TOTE Services Inc.
TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico
Narration: The hearing and the ongoing investigation will explore the reporting relationships between Tote Services and Tote Maritime Puerto Rico along with oversight of vessel operations.
CG Exhibit 01

5. TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico Organization
Narration: This slide presents a simplified organization chart of the TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico corporate organization with the hearing witnesses in the gold boxes. We have removed the additional pages associated with these organization charts.
CG Exhibit 01

6. TOTE Services Inc. Organization
Narration: This slide presents a simplified organization chart of the Tote Services organization with the hearing witnesses in the gold boxes. In the course of the investigation other corporate individuals were interviewed. This chart represents the organization in place at the time.
CG Exhibit 01

7. S.S. EL FARO CG Exhibit 01 Official Number: 561732 Flag: United States
Image supplied by TOTE
Official Number:
Flag: United States
Class: ABS
Propulsion: Steam Turbine
Speed: Knots (Maximum)
Built: at Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock
Construction: Welded Steel
Length Overall: Feet
Beam: Feet Molded Draft: Feet
Tonnage: ,527 GRT (31,515 GT ITC)
Service: Ro/Ro Cargo Ship (Roll on and roll off cargo via ramp and
containers via crane)
Narration: General characteristics for the Steamship EL FARO
CG Exhibit 01

8. ENGINEERING ARRANGEMENT
Main Propulsion
Ahead Horse Power:
Boiler:
General Boiler Type:
Furnace:
Design Pressure:
Generator Prime Mover:
Rated HP:
Operating Speed:
Marine Alternating Current Generator:
Volts:
Emergency Power Generation:
Emergency Power Prime Mover:
Steering Gear:
High/Low Pressure Steam Turbine General Electric Marine Turbine
30,000 BHP
2 Babcock & Wilcox Co
Water Tube with Natural Circulation
Pressure Firing w/ oil 2 Divided
1070 lbs
2 Terry Turbines
2,000 kW
7,024 rpm
2 General Electric
450 V
350 kW Delco A.C. Generator
Detroit Diesel V-71
Electro-Hydraulic
Narration: General arrangement of the significant machinery components for the EL FARO.
CG Exhibit 01

9. General Arrangement EL FARO
Narration: Simplified view of the EL FARO when looking at the ships right or starboard side. The key features of the vessel are labeled. The vessel has cargo holds below the watertight deck (red color line).
The red horizontal line denotes the general limit of the watertight envelope of the hull.
CG Exhibit 01

10. S.S. EL FARO Inspection and Regulatory Oversight
The EL FARO holds a Certificate of Inspection
(COI) from the United States Coast Guard.
The vessel was enrolled in the Alternate
Compliance Program (ACP) with ABS as the
Authorized Classification Society. Through this
program ABS is given the authority to perform
statutory functions for U S flagged vessels on
behalf of the U.S. Coast Guard.
Narration: The EL FARO was subject to the two listed inspection programs.
For further information you can go to:
CG Exhibit 01

11. 33 Crew Persons aboard Ship’s Crew Persons in Addition to the Crew
Master Onboard Project Supervisor for Alaskan Conversion Project
Chief Mate
Second Mate Conversion Project Workers (5)
Third Mate
Chief Engineer
First Assistant Engineer Total Persons Aboard Accident Voyage
Second Assistant Engineer
Third Assistant Engineer (3)
Bosun
Able Seaman (5)
General Utility Deck Engine
Refrigeration Engineer
Oiler, Maintenance Utility (3)
General Utility Deck Engine , Electrical (2)
Qualified Member of Engine Dept., Electrical Chief Cook
Steward Assistant
Baker 33
Narration: At the time of the accident voyage the following crew positions were being filled on the vessel. In addition to the typical crew that operates the vessel there was a supervised labor force working on converting the ship to prepare it for Alaskan operations.
CG Exhibit 01

12. Crew Qualifications and Manning
The EL FARO crew were properly credentialed for
the positions they filled onboard the vessel.
The vessel was manned in compliance with the
USCG Certificate of Inspection (COI).
The persons in addition to the crew that were
aboard the vessel were authorized under the USCG
Certificate of Inspection (COI).
Narration: Vessels such as the EL FARO are issued a Certificate of Inspection by the U S Coast Guard. The seafarers and others aboard must have proper credentials to work aboard the vessel.
CG Exhibit 01

13. How cargo was loaded onto EL FARO
Originally designed and constructed as a Roll On / Roll Off (Ro-Ro) ship for the transport of wheeled vehicles, the ship has been converted to permit lashed container stowage in stacks on the Main Deck.    The Main Deck is now configured for stowage of 20 ft, 40 ft, 45 ft, 48 ft, and 53 ft containers.  Below deck spaces are configured for stowage of Ro-Ro cargo.  The Second Deck, Third Deck and Inner bottom are outfitted for trailers and automobiles.
Narration: This slide presents a general overview of the type of vessel the El Faro was at the time of the accident. She is described as a lo/lo – ro/ro vessel. That being one that has cargo loaded on such as containers and other cargo that is driven on and off. This could be containers on wheeled trailers or stand alone vehicles like cars, trucks and miscellaneous trailers.
CG Exhibit 01

14. Cargo Aboard Accident Voyage
Electric Reefers with Logs
Dry
Trailers
Autos
Not in containers
Containers
Other
Fructose Long tons
Total Tonnage 11,045.9 Long tons
Narration: At the time of the accident voyage this was the loading of the El Faro. NIC refers to cargo that is not in containers.
Image supplied by TOTE Historical File Photo
The “EL FARO” loading cargo in the Port of Jacksonville.
CG Exhibit 01

15. Departure Information Jacksonville, Florida
SS El Faro Voyage 185 South
Time Zone + 4
Commence cargo unloading 09/29/ :00 PM
Last cargo loaded 6:54 PM
Last line off ship 8:07 PM
Pilot away :44 PM
Departure Jacksonville 9:48 PM
Projected ETA
San Juan Puerto Rico 10/02/ :00 AM
Narration: The information contained in this slide was developed from the vessels departure report from Jacksonville.
CG Exhibit 01

16. Preliminary Track History Accident Voyage
Jacksonville, FL
This image shows the path of the El FARO from its departure port of Jacksonville, Florida, to its last know positions at the end of the blue track line. Also indicated is the location were the main wreckage of the EL FARO was found.
Wreckage Location
CG Exhibit 01

17. Preliminary Track History Accident Voyage
This image is a zoomed-in version of the previous slide. This image shows the vessel track history that was generated from data obtained from the Global Positioning System (GPS). The red triangle indicates the location of the main wreckage.
Last Positions
CG Exhibit 01

18. Preliminary Track History Accident Voyage
Narration: This image shows a close-in view of the last reported positions of the El FARO, indicated by the red circles, and the location, of the El Faro wreckage, indicated by the red triangle. The blue line indicates the GPS derived track history of the EL FARO. The right end of the blue line indicates the location at which the GPS derived location information ended.
Last Position Reported by Captain
Last Position Ship Security Alert System SSAS
10 NM
Wreckage Location
CG Exhibit 01

19. EL FARO Basic Lifesaving, Safety and Communications Equipment
The EL FARO was equipped with all required safety , lifesaving and communications equipment.
Including:
Personal Floatation Devices (PFD) (Life Jackets) Life rings w/strobes
Immersion Suits Medical Kits
Lifeboats (1 Motorized, 1 Fleming Gear) Life rafts
Fire Extinguishers Smoke floats
Communications Equipment:
Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB)
Global Maritime Distress Safety System suite of communications gear (GMDSS)
Ship Security Alert System (SSAS)
Long Range Identification and Tracking System (LRIT)
Search and Rescue Transponder (SART)
Narration: Major lifesaving equipment and communications equipment for emergency communications.
CG Exhibit 01

20. EL FARO Primary Survival Craft
Starboard (right side) lifeboat on the similar vessel the El YUNQUE. This is the same type and construction of the lifeboat on the EL FARO. The vessel would be propelled by means of Fleming gear.
Narration: This is a photo of the EL YUNQUE starbird or (right side) lifeboat. The EL FARO’s boats were of similar size, type and construction. This vessel is propelled by Fleming gear where the crew pushes and pulls on a handle to propel the vessel. This vessel does not have an engine. The EL FARO port (left side) life boat did have a diesel engine as does the EL YUNQUE.
NTSB Photo
CG Exhibit 01

21. Lifeboat Lowering Mechanism
Narration: This is a simplified diagram of the storage and launching equipment for the two EL FARO lifeboats.
CG Exhibit 01

22. EL FARO S- VDR
The Simplified Voyage Data Recorder (S- VDR) which would have contained recorded voice recordings and ship control settings, position, speed and other vital information was mounted on the top of the navigation bridge (arrow).
Despite extensive search activities the S-VDR capsule was not located in the vicinity of the EL FARO. The search depth was approximately 15,000 feet.
In this case the S-VDR was not designed to float free of the vessel.
Narration: The slide depicts the EL FARO VDR mounted on a beam on the top side of the EL FARO uppermost deck. The VDR records sensor information and voice dialog. The VDR was not located in the underwater search after the accident that was conducted by the NTSB.
CG Exhibit 01

23. Follow up Public Hearings
The USCG working closely with the National Transportation Safety Board is conducting an exhaustive investigation into the events surrounding the sinking of the EL FARO and the loss of 33 crew persons.
In subsequent Public Hearings the Marine Board of Investigation will investigate in detail the elements of the actual voyage including but not limited to these areas affecting the accident voyage:
Weather prediction, conditions and related decisions and actions
Decisions of the vessel crew
Tote Services and Tote Maritime PR operation of the vessel
Stability, loading and cargo movement
Any issues related to the structural integrity of the vessel
USCG and ABS actions directly related to the accident voyage
Existing regulations related to the operation of the EL FARO for the
operation, safety, maintenance and inspection of the vessel.
Narration: This is a brief explanation of the topic areas that will be discussed in subsequent Public Hearing. The time and place for those Hearings has not been determined at this time. The fact finding stage of this complex investigation is still in progress.
CG Exhibit 01

24. Thank you for your attention
Narration: Thank you for your attention
CG Exhibit 01