A friend of ours in Connecticut who is a containership captain went to
school with the captain of the El Faro at Maine Maritime Academy in
Castine.

http://gcaptain.com/captain-of-ill-fated-el-faro-described-as-experienced-and-trusted-mariner/#.VhejXSssycM
http://www.wcsh6.com/story/news/local/2015/10/08/fifth-maine-maritime-academy-graduate-lost-sea/73579548/

That's a pretty sad deal Wayne. Sometimes there's no one to blame. I believe they were caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. He probably was caught off guard when the weather twisted on them in moments.

On Fri, 9 Oct 2015 07:25:48 -0700 (PDT), Tim
wrote:

That's a pretty sad deal Wayne. Sometimes there's no one to blame. I believe they were caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. He probably was caught off guard when the weather twisted on them in moments.

Maybe you guys don't look at the weather as much as we do in Florida
but this storm was very well predicted. The models kept pushing it off
to the east but other than that there was plenty of warning for that
captain.
As soon as it was apparent that it was going to go well east of
Florida, he had an out but it would have added a day to his trip.
The El Faro could run at up to 22kts so adding a few hundred extra
miles was not that big a deal. This had to be about money (fuel and
maybe an on time bonus).

I know what you're saying Greg. But my thought is that it's possible that it was bad enough but turned REALLY bad before they knew what was happening. Just my uneducated thought.

On Fri, 9 Oct 2015 09:44:27 -0700 (PDT), Tim
wrote:

I know what you're saying Greg. But my thought is that it's possible that it was bad enough but turned REALLY bad before they knew what was happening. Just my uneducated thought.

I suppose bravado goes a long way but I am not sure it would have me
steering into a storm when there was an easy way to avoid it.

On Fri, 09 Oct 2015 14:29:03 -0400, wrote:

On Fri, 9 Oct 2015 09:44:27 -0700 (PDT), Tim
wrote:

I know what you're saying Greg. But my thought is that it's possible that it was bad enough but turned REALLY bad before they knew what was happening. Just my uneducated thought.

I suppose bravado goes a long way but I am not sure it would have me
steering into a storm when there was an easy way to avoid it.

===

There's more information he

http://gcaptain.com/collision-course-with-a-hurricane-how-doomed-el-faro-met-its-end/#.VhgL0SssycM

This will be discussed by the professionals for a while. At this time
I don't think it's known exactly when they lost power. It may be
possible that they caught a really bad break by losing power before
they could reroute.

In addition to a possible desire to save fuel, there may have been
port considerations. Some harbors have limited dockage space and
tightly scheduled slip assignments. It could be very expensive if you
miss your slot and have to wait for a new one. Don't know if that's
an issue in San Juan or not.

On Fri, 09 Oct 2015 07:32:33 -0400,
wrote:


A friend of ours in Connecticut who is a containership captain went to
school with the captain of the El Faro at Maine Maritime Academy in
Castine.

http://gcaptain.com/captain-of-ill-fated-el-faro-described-as-experienced-and-trusted-mariner/#.VhejXSssycM
http://www.wcsh6.com/story/news/local/2015/10/08/fifth-maine-maritime-academy-graduate-lost-sea/73579548/

It is amazing that a guy who was this smart would sail right into the
eye of a hurricane.
This is not the 19th century,. There are plenty of weather resources
available to him to know how much trouble he was in.
There must have been a heluva "on time" bonus in Puerto Rico. If he
adds a day or two to the trip and comes down the coast of Florida,
everyone arrives alive.

It reminds me of the guys who decided the Bounty would do fine in
Sandy.