Boatnerd Discussion Forum

Apparently the bridge was ripped off the El Faro when she sank, since they can't seem to find it.

Although I lived in Europe at the time, I would imagine the story of the Fitzgerald died rather quickly in the national headlines by quickly being relegated to a regional story. One must remember that back in those days, before the internet, most people learned of news outside their communities either through newspapers, radio, or by watching 30 minute news shows on television put out by the big three national networks. In addition, regional radio and television stations reported local and national reports. Now with dedicated news networks and websites, much more news can be reported than ever before.

I was very surprised tonight because it was the second story on World News Tonight on ABC. Nothing that hasn't already been reported, but it was on the national news.

Noticed tonight that ABC News and their World News coverage at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time, finally had a brief segment on the finding of the cargo ship El Faro near the Bahamas in the Atlantic Ocean. They mentioned that equipment was used to dive down and also discovered the wreckage lying upright and 3 miles down below the surface. Point is though, the El Faro is finally getting some of the media coverage it's just that I guess they need to identify and take a look at it first to confirm it. Remember they did the same thing to the Fitzgerald after it sank in 1975. It took four days for them to find targets believed to be the Fitz after she sank. Also, due to the fall and winter seasons it was not until Spring 1976 that they could finally identify the Fitz with the Navy's CURV III unit. Point is had it not been for the fall and winter seasons on the lakes at that time, surely the Fitzgerald would have been positively identified after it sank much sooner rather than later. Think about that for a minute. Just my thoughts only on this subject and nothing more than that!

Tonight I watched the nightly and World News and "There was not one thing ever mentioned about the possible finding of the El Faro and that they would be sending stuff down to try and identify it and to confirm it!" I have got to say LOL all the media wants to do rather than mention the El Faro disaster, is talk about the debate stuff from last week. Too bad I am not running for office as I would get up on stage and tell the moderators "Haven't we had enough talk about the political stuff lately?" I am sure that in time once the investigations have been completed into the El Faro along with the possible causes, we will see more news and media cover about it?

Timerover51 wrote:Based on the fact that, although the El Faro was a container ship, there was essentially no debris from the sinking, aside from one crew member in flotation gear and a lifeboat

GIYF. There was a debris field of Styrofoam, wood, cargo and other items in the water that spanned 225 square miles.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/objects-fo ... o/35647562

Timerover51 wrote:As for the Navy looking for the ship, that is not the Navy's job.

The Navy is almost always involved with such matters. They have devoted considerable resources to searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet which only had 3 Americans on board. I would not expect to see any fewer resources to the search for the U.S. Flag El Faro.

The Navy is involved through the NTSB.

Yes the Navy plays a big role in the initial search and locating of wrecks. I am assuming it is more for potential foul play or possibly the insurance companies request their assistance. They have the equipment available and the resources and are most likely stationed in the area.

Detroit News article for any and all:

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/n ... /74983776/

Latest and Breaking News on my homepage tonight says that they may have possibly found wreckage believed to be that of the El Faro which sank on October 1 or around that time from Hurricane Joaquin. Let's hope and pray that they have found the wreckage and the families of the ill-fated crew and finally have closure and peace as well.

Wreck of the EL FARO believed to be found by the US Navy. The deep sea tug USNS APACHE has been looking for the wreck in the last known location and apparently found a promising target of the correct size using side scan sonar. Upright and intact... Depth is appx 15,000 feet. An ROV is supposed to be deployed Sunday to confirm identity and photograph wreck.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/31/us/el-far ... index.html

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0SQ19C20151101

This story is now being reported by several new agencies.

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2015 ... ip-el-faro

First off, it was a Navy P-3 Orion that located the Fitz a few weeks after her sinking, also they supplied the ROV's and submersibles to the wreck. In 1967 the U.S. Coast Guard located the stern section of the Morrell and used navy divers to complete it's investigation.

Secondly, it was Navy and Coast Guard divers who located and investigated the wreck of the Marine Electric. Meaning that they do have some sort of legal involvement in matters such as these. Isn't the Navy who is currently investigating the wreck of the Argo in Lake Erie? So the Navy and CG must be working together on these matters for purpose of investigation.

to say it is overshadowing the el faro is unfair i think...its the anniversary of the fitz sinking..it is remembered every year at this time...it is just unfortunate that el faro went down so close to thi date ...that my opinion...no person would say this is more important than el faro sinking its just the date we remember the fitz on

Rob W wrote:I agree with the thought that the El Faro sinking should be more prevelant in discussion. What those crew members went through on both vessels makes me shudder with horror.

Based on the fact that, although the El Faro was a container ship, there was essentially no debris from the sinking, aside from one crew member in flotation gear and a lifeboat, whatever hit the El Faro was very quick and very deadly.

As for the Navy looking for the ship, that is not the Navy's job. To locate the ship and find the black box is going to require the insurance company that now owns the wreck to contract with a deep-sea location and recovery company to locate the wreck as a starter. In three miles of water, there are a limited number of companies capable of that work.

I may be wrong here and sorry if I am and don't mean to offend anyone but, the Fitzgerald had the Anderson following her and also was in constant contact with them throughout the storm. The Fitz also was in contact with other vessels in the area as well. As far as the El Faro goes, was there any other vessels that they were at the time in contact with? Were any vessels following them at the time like the Anderson did with the Fitzgerald? Also, surely there had to be other vessels that tried to search for survivors and debris from the El Faro similar to the Fitzgerald in which there were several vessels that helped search for survivors and debris. Besides the ships in Lake Superior the night the Fitz sank, several were also at anchor in Whitefish Bay as well. Point is, was the El Faro the only vessel out there in that area at the time or were there others also?

Another example - anyone remember the Str. Marine Electric? A horrible tragedy. A US-Flagged converted (to a Bulker) T-2 sank with (I Think) 31 lost & 3 survivors. The ship was old and very badly maintained (leaking hatches repaired with Bondo, etc.). She was on an East Coast run with 24,000 tons of coal, ran into a storm and quickly sank. Results: many "ripe" US-Flagged ships went to the Scrappers, the USCG mandated survival suits for all who sailed in the North Atlantic, the Coast Guard began the famous "survival swimmer" program due to this Shipwreck. But who remembers? A book was written about the sinking, but most of its readers are Marine Professionals. An incident having far more repercussions than the Fitzgerald sinking, almost completely forgotten.3pf2t

Denny watch this Free Press Video Carl Behrend song on this
http://archive.freep.com/VideoNetwork/4 ... -Wednesday

Let's not forget about the Carl D. Bradley either! As far as I know there has only been one song written on her and it was by Dan Hall and it is entitled "When the Bradley was torn and then gone" and whenever I hear it and play it, I can't help but get choked up about it and thinking of the brave crew of the Bradley and also how it just devastated the down of Rogers City and its surrounding areas after that sinking and tragedy. I have never heard many songs either on the 1913 Great Lakes storm or its shipwrecks along with the 1940 Armistice Day storm as well. Who else has written and recorded any songs about this stuff other than Gordon Lightfoot, Dan Hall, Lee Murdock and Carl Behrand? Those are the only ones that I know and the only that I don't have any CDs on is Carl Behrand. Just remembered, Lee Murdock did write a song about the Bradley and if I can remember it was called "The Bradley's Crew!"

The biggest factor here is it's two vastly different bodies of water. Witch one can you relate to? the one in a nearby lake or the one thousands of miles away in a vast ocean. No disrespect to the crew of the El Faro they will get their share of coverage when all of the facts come out.