NTSB cites weak safety culture by owner of sunken El Faro
The owner of the sunken cargo ship El Faro had a weak corporate safety culture that contributed to the vessel’s demise and the deaths of 33 mariners, federal accident investigators said on Tuesday.
The National Transportation Safety Board said that as a company, TOTE Maritime, Inc. suffered from a lack of “critical” aspects of safety management and training, one of the many problems the board hopes to mitigate through the adoption of 53 draft safety measures it’s recommending as a result of its probe.
The board noted that the captain was relying on outdated weather information, using a system he hadn’t been formally trained on; that a hatch left open in the storm allowed flooding in a cargo hold, destabilizing the vessel; and that the crew had not been adequately trained to deal with flooding and other effects of harsh weather.
The El Faro lost engine power in a Category 3 hurricane while sailing from Jacksonville to San Juan, Puerto Rico and eventually sank in 15,000 feet (4,570 metres) of water near the Bahamas.