El Faro Remains Found, NTSB Releases Photos

Roth-Roffy said the NTSB would need to launch a second search of the wreckage 15,000 feet below the sea if it wants to find the data recorder, which would have recorded the captain’s final transmissions.

The battered hunk of metal resting at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean is the El Faro in its watery grave, according to images released Sunday by federal investigators. But, the NTSB says no remains were found during any searches.

The El Faro sank October 1 as it traversed the Atlantic Ocean en route from Jacksonville to San Juan, Puerto Rico. None of the 33 aboard survived. ‘I think we found one boot’.

“Seeing the two upper decks literally sheared off the ship was pretty riveting, just showed the sheer force of the storm”, Green said.

The loss of El Faro has been deemed the worst cargo shipping disaster involving a U.S.-flagged vessel since 1983.

The footage captured on film was taken by cameras attached to the Apache’s cable controlled underwater recovery vehicle. The El Faro was carrying automobiles.

A major challenge for Roth-Roffy is the absence of the ship’s Voyage Data Recorder, or VDR, which would give him and others access to the conversations on El Faro’s bridge that could offer more clues.

Roth-Roffy said the images he saw were disturbing.

“It would have told us what the crew was experiencing at the time in the minutes before the vessel sank”.

Families of the crew members have filed multiple lawsuits against the El Faro’s owners, Tote Marine, alleging wrongful death and negligence.