The deadliest shipping disaster: EL FARO sinking and the loss of 33 people
However, if you want to read a gripping modern tale of the biggest ship to sink there, read “Into The Raging Sea” about the loss of the EL Faro, a roll-on-roll-off freighter that sunk in a massive storm with the loss of all crew. It was the result of the shipping company’s malfeasance, the age of the ship and its’ poor maintenance and the absolute and utter incompetence of the Captain, who at every turn made the wrong decision and doomed the ship.
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The black box was recovered under something like 12,000 feet of water in a daring display of technology and seamanship - and at enormous expense, and on it were the recordings of the bridge officers and crew in the last minutes of their life. The machine recorded days of transmissions before the storm and pretty much everyone but the Captain knew they were going to die for a long time before they did. They warned him over and over and he ignored them. The lives of the research and forensic teams who had to transcribe the voices of the dead for the investigation were irrevocably altered. Many of them quit afterwards. The last words were of the Captain, calling to a trapped seaman on the bridge saying, “I’m not going anywhere,” as calmly as he could as the ship went under the waves in a raging storm.
It’s believed a car that broke loose in the hold and rolling around, smashed the fire main and flooded the hold which set up cataclysm that doomed the ship. The shipping company failed to provide enough motor oil to keep the engines in an oil bath during the storm and they shut down and could not be restarted. Once the engines failed, there was no doubt as to the outcome. The Chief Engineer died trying to restart the engines. The people who owned the ship and who had strong-armed the Captain into sailing into the hurricane acted as if they had never even heard of the “EL Faro” during the investigation.