33 souls on cargo ship missing in Hurricane Joaquin, October 2015

Ray_of_hope

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"(CNN)Somewhere at sea for more than 48 hours now, a container ship with 28 Americans and five Polish nationals is lost and battered by Hurricane Joaquin as the Coast Guard presses its search by air."

Last known to have radioed for help when taking on water. Why did they have to leave Jacksonville, FL when Hurricane Joaquin was present? I pray for all of the souls on-board. May it be a quick rescue mission.


[video=cnn;weather/2015/10/03/where-is-the-el-faro-wfox-dnt.wfox]http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/03/us/el-faro-missing-ship-hurricane-joaquin/index.html[/video]
 
Praying they had time and availability of survival suits and the canopied, closed life boats!
 
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-32...d-know-vessel-set-sail-Hurricane-Joaquin.html
She (Mrs. Hamm) revealed that Tote Maritime executives are standing by 53-year-old Captain Michael Davidson’s decision to set out in what was then categorized as a Tropical Storm.
*Parentheses and emphasis mine*

Is it possible the severity of the storm was misjudged ?

Hope those crew members are o.k. and just waiting the storm out !
 
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-32...d-know-vessel-set-sail-Hurricane-Joaquin.html
She (Mrs. Hamm) revealed that Tote Maritime executives are standing by 53-year-old Captain Michael Davidson’s decision to set out in what was then categorized as a Tropical Storm.
*Parentheses and emphasis mine*

Is it possible the severity of the storm was misjudged ?

Hope those crew members are o.k. and just waiting the storm out !

It was a tropical storm but it intensified rapidly.
 
I have the utmost respect for the US Coastguard. A C-130 spotted a life ring, in 40' waves? That's incredible.

Hoping for the best for those souls on El Faro.
 
Thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the crew. Praying for a miracle here!
 
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-32...decision-sail-straight-Hurricane-Joaquin.html
Empty life rings spotted in the Bermuda Triangle where cargo ship carrying 33 people is missing as angry families hit out at captain's decision to sail straight into Hurricane Joaquin

My .02 is that this captain was experienced and had most likely weathered storms before.. and maybe this one quickly turned out to be more severe ?
One can hardly blame the families, they must be worried sick to the point where normal life ceases -- i.e., cannot sleep, eat, etc. :(
 
I think at this point chance of recovering them alive are slim to none. Sounds like captain misjudged the severity of the hurricane.
 
They didn't expect it to turn into a hurricane, and even the weathermen were shocked at how fast this storm changed.
 
[snipped]

Search and rescue teams on Sunday located debris which appeared to belong to the cargo ship El Faro that went missing in the eye of Hurricane Joaquin with 33 mostly American crew members aboard, the U.S. Coast Guard and the ship's owner said.

Life jackets, containers and an oil sheen were spotted by U.S. Coast Guard aircrews flying over the Bahamas on the third day of their search for the container ship.

The owners of the El Faro, Tote Maritime, also said two vessels it sent to the scene had found a container "which appears to be from the El Faro."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/04/us-storm-joaquin-idUSKCN0RV3NW20151004
 
They didn't expect it to turn into a hurricane, and even the weathermen were shocked at how fast this storm changed.

As far as I recall it was expected to turn into a hurricane. Maybe not Cat 5, but it was expected to intensify.
 
Sounds just like The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

[video=youtube;9vST6hVRj2A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vST6hVRj2A[/video]
 
Thanks for posting this song. It fits perfectly.
I haven't heard it in a very long time.

Another article posted on MSN -

Thirty-three crew members are on board, many of them local to the Jacksonville area, according to executives for TOTE Maritime, the ship's owner. Of the crew, 28 are U.S. citizens and 5 are Polish nationals.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/story...container-ship-in-hurricane-joaquin/73203942/
 
Thanks for posting this song. It fits perfectly.
I haven't heard it in a very long time.

I just can't get over how similar this incident with the El Faro is to the Edmund Fitzgerald. When I started to read this thread, my first thought was dejavu of the Edmund Fitzgerald wreck.

Both ships were sailing into storms. Both ships radioed that they were taking on watering and were listing. Both Captains reported that they had the situation under control, and then they were never heard from again.

I would guess that just like the Edmund Fitzgerald, the El Faro broke up so quickly, that the crew didn't have time to abandon ship, or even radio for help.
 

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