In probably the most technical day of testimony yet, the El Faro’s former chief engineer told the Marine Board of Investigation on Tuesday he saw no red flags in its condition before it sank in October.
Mechanics And Condition
Former El Faro Chief Engineer James Robinson says when he stepped onto dry land in late September, the ship was safe and in good shape for a 40-year old cargo freighter.
“Anything we see unsafe, we bring it up. If there’s something that is unsafe, it’s brought up and it’s addressed immediately,” Robinson said. “It has to be. All the crew members, licensed and unlicensed, they watch for things.”
He said the ship required regular maintenance, just as any vessel would at that age, but that it wasn’t unsafe to pilot.
One of the El Faro’s sister ships, the El Morro, was recently decommissioned due to thinning and rusting metal. But Robinson says he didn’t think the El Faro had the same problem.
However, testimony revealed Monday the El Faro was meant to be added to the U.S. Coast Guard’s risk list, which hadn’t been released before it sank. Vessels on that list are marked for extra scrutiny.
According to the last week’s testimony before the board, the ship’s hull was breached and it began to take on water. To make matters worse, the vessel lost power and propulsion, leaving it at the mercy of the high seas during turbulent weather.
Robinson said the ship’s boilers were scheduled for maintenance in November but that the boilers have nothing to do with a ship’s loss of propulsion. A Polish group of workers were aboard the ship to retrofit it for returning to the Alaskan trade when it sank. Robinson told investigators the crew always trusted the foreign workers and that even with the language barrier, he was confident they were well trained in safety protocol.
Life Boats And Leadership
Robinson, who was the first to testify on the seventh day of hearings at the Prime Osborn Center, was also questioned about the safety of the El Faro’s life boats and the leadership of Capt. Michael Davidson.
He told the board that life boats are difficult to launch in windy weather, and more portable life rafts are used in such cases during safety drills.
But testimony throughout the hearing has revealed there were mechanical problems with some winches that lowered the boats to the El Faro’s deck, and it’s unclear what their condition was during the ship’s accident voyage.
Robinson also said Davidson was always involved in safety drills, chairing most of them, even though an internal TOTE Maritime email called him a "hands-off captain." Robinson told the Coast Guard Tuesday that, for the most part, he thought Davidson was very involved, especially when it came to safety. Robinson also said he didn’t notice a difference in Davidson’s attitude following his losing out on a promotion.
El Faro’s Last Moments, The Rescue Operation
Wrapping up Tuesday’s testimony, the Coast Guard called on one of its own, Capt. Todd Coggeshall. Coggeshall was the man in charge of the initial efforts to respond to distress calls from the El Faro in October. He’s in charge of the Coast Guard’s Seventh District out of Miami.
When TOTE reached out to Coggeshall, he remembers thinking the ship was in trouble, but he first attempted to “figure out the facts” regarding what type and how severe it was.
Coggeshall said District Seven was monitoring Hurricane Joaquin closely, and he realized they needed more resources to help the El Faro. But getting to the area proved problematic as the closest rescue aircraft was more than 500 miles away. Coggeshall tried contacting Bahamian authorities for help, but the islands had already shut down their own operations in advance of the heavy weather.
Originally Coggeshall was hopeful the crew would be able to stem the water rushing into the El Faro’s hull and pump the water out to ensure it the ship didn’t tip. Instead, he received a final distress beacon before complete radio silence. Although unregistered, that beacon is believed to be from El Faro. Still, the Coast Guard’s search and rescue team was unable to locate it.
The hearing continues Wednesday.
Copyright 2020 WJCT 89.9 FM Jacksonville. To see more, visit WJCT 89.9 FM Jacksonville. 9(MDAyMTYyMTU5MDEyOTc4NzE4ODNmYWEwYQ004))
