#el-faro

Rockland commemorates installation of El Faro Salute
Sat, 09/24/2022 - 5:45pm

ROCKLAND — “Upon seeing the sketch of the faceless seaman and sailors, I actually got chills with such a tremendous tribute to the crew,” said CDR John Buckley (retired), U.S. Navy, who wore his uniform to represent all senior member officers who truly cared for and served the persons in their charge. On Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022, the City of Rockland closed Atlantic Street so that the community could attend a dedication ceremony for an “ El Faro Salute!” memorial, sculpted by Jay...
Hand, heart and steel: ‘El Faro’ memorial nears completion; dedication ceremony planned for September
Mon, 08/08/2022 - 1:30pm

ROCKLAND — The hand is carved from metal, but it is Jay Sawyer’s hand. Intricately carved details raised in permanent salute from an empty maritime uniform have been lovingly crafted by this Warren sculptor, who not only put his heart into his work for the victims of El Faro , but also used his hand as the mold for the salute. For the faceless female that will stand beside the male, Sawyer’s daughter lent her own hand. On Monday, August 8, 2022, Rockland City Council will vote to allow...
a third of the way through fundraising efforts
Proposed El Faro Salute! memorial rises as fifth anniversary of sinking nears
Wed, 09/30/2020 - 4:00pm

ROCKLAND — Maine Maritime Academy grad and former merchant marine Jay Sawyer is using his second career as a sculptor to erect an El Faro memorial in Rockland. The ambitious project, named the El Faro Salute , is now in its fifth year of composition, only a few days shy of the fifth anniversary of the cargo ship’s sinking, October 1, 2015, leaving 33 crew members, including two Rockland residents and two other Maine residents, lost at sea. As fundraising grows for the $135,...
Blames company, U.S. Bureau of Shipping, and Coast Guard itself
Coast Guard releases Final Action Memo regarding El Faro sinking, loss of 33 crewmembers
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 2:45pm

WASHINGTON -- The Coast Guard today released the Final Action Memo regarding the loss of the S.S. El Faro and its 33 crewmembers during a 2015 hurricane near Crooked Island, Bahamas. In the Final Action Memo, Commandant of the Coast Guard, Adm. Paul Zukunft, approves the findings of fact, analysis, and conclusions detailed in the Marine Board of Investigation's Report of Investigation, essentially marking it as the official Coast Guard position on the cause of the marine casualty...
Search for El Faro voyage data recorder pushed to August
Wed, 06/29/2016 - 2:15pm

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Transportation Safety Board announced Wednesday that the mission to recover the El Faro voyage data recorder will be launched from Little Creek, Va., during the first week of August, and is expected to last about two weeks. In a June 6 press release, the NTSB had indicated that the mission would launch in early July. The agency said June 29 that the new launch date was necessary because that was the soonest that all of the resources needed for the...
Second round of hearings underway in Florida
Marine Board investigators told El Faro captain thought he could avoid storm
Wed, 05/18/2016 - 7:15pm

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A second round of Marine Board of Investigation hearings is underway in Jacksonville, Fla., this week, as officials continue to gather information into the circumstances surrounding the fall 2015 sinking of the U.S.-flagged cargo ship El Faro in Hurricane Joaquin. The hearings began May 16 and are scheduled to continue daily, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., through Friday, May 27. The National Transportation Safety Board, which is conducting its own investigation, is fully...
NTSB: Specialized equipment needed to recover El Faro voyage data recorder
Wed, 04/27/2016 - 4:15pm

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The investigative team aboard the research vessel Atlantis who located El Faro's voyage data recorder Tuesday have determined it will not be possible to recover the VDR during the current mission. The team of investigators and scientists aboard Atlantis collaborated with investigators at the National Transportation Safety Board lab in Washington and determined that given the VDR's proximity to the mast and other obstructions, recovery of the VDR...
Next steps are to photo-document, retrieve VDR
NTSB locates voyage data recorder of sunken cargo ship El Faro
Tue, 04/26/2016 - 4:45pm

WASHINGTON — A team of investigators and scientists, using remotely operated undersea search equipment, have located the voyage data recorder of the cargo ship El Faro , which sank off the Bahamas Oct. 1, 2015. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the VDR was located early Tuesday morning in 15,000 feet of water, about 41 miles (36 nautical miles) northeast of Acklins and Crooked Islands, Bahamas. The investigative team is comprised of specialists from the...
Watch the hearing live via streaming online...
UPDATE: U.S. Coast Guard Board of Investigation hearing into ‘El Faro’ sinking underway
Wed, 02/17/2016 - 2:00pm

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Feb. 17) — Day two of the U.S. Coast Guard’s public Marine Board of Investigation hearing into the loss of the steam ship El Faro , and its 33 crew members, is underway Wednesday, and the public can watch and listen live now and throughout the 10-day hearing via LiveStream . During testimony Feb. 16, the first day of the hearing, officials with TOTE Marine, the company that owned and operated El Faro , said that Capt. Michael Davidson of...
NTSB to launch second mission to search for El Faro evidence, clues
Thu, 02/11/2016 - 4:30pm

WASHINGTON. D.C. – The National Transportation Safety Board announced Thursday that it would launch a second expedition to search for evidence in its investigation of the loss of the cargo ship El Faro , which sank in the Atlantic off Bahama during a hurricane on Oct. 1, 2015, and took with it 33 crew members, including two from Rockland who were among five Maine Maritime Academy graduates. A key objective of the upcoming mission, which is expected to begin in April and last about two...
U.S. Coast Guard to hold Marine Board of Investigation hearing Feb. 16-26
El Faro crew from Rockland not among group of 10 to settle with ship’s owner TOTE Maritime
Wed, 01/27/2016 - 1:30pm

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The families of 10 El Faro crew members, killed when the container ship sank Oct. 1, 2015, off the Bahamian coast after running into Hurricane Joaquin, have reached a settlement with the ship's owner following the disaster that claimed a total of 33 lives. Two of the 23 other crew member families whose claims against the ship’s owner, TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico, remain outstanding are Danielle Randolph and Dylan Meklin, both from Rockland. In court documents, Tote...
Tonight, on ‘60 Minutes’
UPDATED: NTSB releases public docket video, photos of ‘El Faro’ debris field
Sun, 01/03/2016 - 8:30pm

On Sunday, Jan. 3, CBS’s 60 Minutes is airing a segment on the El Faro sinking, the search for the ship and the investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board of the accident. Just before 8 p.m. on Sunday, the NTSB issued a press release announcing that it had opened the accident docket and provided nine underwater images of the wreckage, as well as more than 47 minutes of the ROV video of the ship and associated debris field. Just after 7 p.m., about two...
Attorneys: ‘Our role is to protect the rights of the Randolph and Meklin families’
Lawsuits filed on behalf of Rockland ‘El Faro’ crew members
Tue, 12/15/2015 - 4:00pm

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Attorneys representing the families of deceased El Faro crew members Danielle Randolph and Dylan Meklin, who both hailed from Rockland, have filed documents opposing cargo ship owner TOTE Martime's request that the courts limit its liability and financial responsibility arising out of the sinking of the ship and the loss of 33 lives. In a Dec. 5 press release, Berman & Simmons attorneys Benjamin Gideon and Steven Silin said they represent the families of 34-...
Vessel upright, stern buried in approximately 30 feet of sediment
NTSB learns navigation bridge, data recorder missing from wreckage of sunken ‘El Faro’
Tue, 11/03/2015 - 10:00pm

WASHINGTON, D.C. — (Updated Nov. 3) The National Transportation Safety Board Tuesday afternoon said that searches by a U.S. Navy remote operated vehicle have thus far documented both the port and starboard sides of the cargo ship El Faro , which sunk near the Bahamas Oct. 1 during Hurricane Joaquin, but the ship’s navigation bridge, the deck below and its data recorder have not been located. The NTSB last month contracted with the Navy to locate El Faro , document the wreckage...
Celebration of life Oct. 25 in Rockport
Flags in Knox County to half-staff in in honor of ‘El Faro’ crewman, Dylan Meklin
Fri, 10/23/2015 - 10:30am

In honor of Dylan Meklin, a graduate of Maine Maritime Academy who was lost at sea Oct. 1 aboard the cargo ship El Faro, Governor Paul R. LePage has ordered all U.S. and State of Maine flags on all public buildings and grounds in Knox County to be lowered through sunset on Sunday, Oct. 25. "We continue to pray and keep in our thoughts those aboard the El Faro , including our five Mainers. The first lady and I are deeply saddened by this loss of life and our hearts go out to...
National Transportation Safety Board...
NTSB issues update on investigation into sinking of ‘El Faro’
Tue, 10/20/2015 - 1:30pm

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Transportation Safety Board issued an update Tuesday into its continuing investigation of the sinking of the cargo ship El Faro in the Atlantic Ocean near the Bahamas, after Oct. 1, when radio contact with the ship was lost beyond 7:20 a.m. that morning. The ship was sailing from Florida to Puerto Rico with a crew of 33, which are believed to have all perished. Items belonging to the ship were recovered in at least two debris field, along with an...
Memorial service today in Port Clyde
Flags in Knox County at half mast to honor ‘El Faro’ second mate, Danielle Randolph
Thu, 10/15/2015 - 10:15am

In honor of Danielle Randolph, a graduate of Maine Maritime Academy who was lost at sea aboard the cargo ship El Faro, Governor Paul R. LePage has ordered flags on all public buildings and grounds in Knox County to be lowered immediately until sunset on Thursday, October 15. “The First Lady and I are deeply saddened by the loss of those aboard the El Faro, including our five Mainers. During this very difficult time, our hearts go out to the families and friends of our fellow...
Coast Guard suspends search for survivors of El Faro, crew names released
Update: Fifth Maine Maritime graduate among those missing at sea in El Faro sinking
Thu, 10/08/2015 - 2:45pm

MIAMI, Fla. (UPDATED Oct. 7, 7:30 p.m.) — The commander of U.S. Coast Guard 7th District in Miami, Fla., issued a statement Wednesday evening, confirming that the search for the crew of El Faro had been suspended. The Coast Guard also released the names of the crew, as furnished to them by TOTE Maritime, the cargo ship’s owner. "I have come to a very difficult decision to suspend the search for the crew of the El Faro at sunset tonight. My...