[QUOTE=c.captain;169764]do we have confirmation that the LRIT is still being received? I have been wondering this for several hours now?[/QUOTE]
Not that I know of. Flipping thru the channels one network was showing this graphic as the “last known position” but I think this might be where the shore based AIS receiver lost the signal when the ship moved out of range, likely the CG has a better one.
The weather channel mentioned the ship being near Crocked Island which is that island that shaped like a “greater then” ( > ) sign due north of the east tip of Cuba and west of the “T” in the word Turks.
I’ve been down there twice in the last two years. Once I saw a ship 5-600’ go between Long Island and Acklins Island, another time a Crowley tug and barge on the San Juan run. Pretty empty down there as far as help goes. I’d think having a cutter, etc. come up from San Juan would be faster than Jacksonville. But then again, Crowley Has some big stuff.
Prayers for the crew and the people trying to find them.
I have been that route many times, rode out Hurricane Andrew in Exuma Sound on a research ship…we knew if we broke off our buoy we were moored to with a mile of line out…even full ahead we were going aground on a island to the west. Ran the Old Bahama Channel many times and based on weather, I would’ve chose the Old Bahama Channel. Sure it’s kinda narrow, traffic is always light and military patrols are all around the Windward Passage. I hope they are safe, aground at worst…hate to read the EPIRB is alive.
btw, WTF is with these clowns and their shaved heads?[/QUOTE]
It is one way to cope with premature baldness. Now that that bit of trivia has been dealt with, the USCG also rescued 12 crew members who abandoned the sinking M/V [I]Minouche [/I]caught in inclement weather from Hurricane Joaquin.
NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this visible image of Hurricane Joaquin over Bahamas on October 1 at 17:55 UTC (1:55 p.m. EDT). Credits: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team
[QUOTE=Kennebec Captain;169774]The eye of Joaquin just off the NW tip of Crocked Island at about 2 pm yesterday[/QUOTE]
OH NO! They drove straight into the maelstrom! I pray I am wrong but I am very sorry to say that I don’t believe we are going to see a positive outcome here with this ship and the 33 souls aboard her.
This is not good at all. Is this the MARINE ELECTRIC or the POET yet again? Those losses were more than three decades ago. This kind of situation isn’t supposed to still be able to happen in 2015. This was supposed to have ended forever.
Seems to be another example of leaving port based on the projected or forecast path of storm, rather than waiting until the actual movement of the storm centre indicated that it was safe to proceed.
They left port on Tuesday, when a tropical storm roughly parallel to them was heading SW and WSW. This movement continued, accompanied with intensification, until this morning, Friday, when it stalled and then slowly started it northwards track through the Bahamas. That suggests their passage was undertaken on a false premise, which caused them to sail straight into the worst of it.
The Bahama Islands were also unprepared to face hurricane conditions for precisely the same reason; the forecast models all had it moving North very much sooner, and it failed to conform.
Never assume that the predicted path will actually be the track it takes. Always give added weight to the ACTUAL direction and movement of the storm, and make an initial plan assuming this actual direction will continue.
The only predictable thing about hurricanes is that they are unpredictable.
When the vessel was converted to conro in 2006, could that have structurally weakened the vessel?
If the seas were high enough, could water enter the engine through the smokestack causing loss of propulsion and flooding?
I think Matson’s Lurline and Matsonia were also the same original trailerships as the Northern Lights/El Faro built by Sun Shipbuilding in the early 1970s.
Wow, Fox news and CNN have direct links to this story. So many ignorant comments from the public. Should I post a link to this forum for some education??! Pandoras box?
[QUOTE=Lone_Star;169786]Wow, Fox news and CNN have direct links to this story. So many ignorant comments from the public. Should I post a link to this forum for some education??! Pandoras box?[/QUOTE]
So you’ve never seen an ignorant comment here? My heart goes out to our brother’s and their families, if anyone wants to educate the public from this forum, it should be gCaptain’s management team who speaks, not us Monday morning quarterbacks.
[QUOTE=The Commodore;169787]So you’ve never seen an ignorant comment here? My heart goes out to our brother’s and their families, if anyone wants to educate the public from this forum, it should be gCaptain’s management team who speaks, not us Monday morning quarterbacks.[/QUOTE]
Very true. There is plenty of good talk as well. Hopefully we find them safe, and only from them will we know what really happened.
Does anyone know if an EPIRB signal has been received or not? I know someone said that on this thread earlier but I have not heard that anywhere else thus far. Is there a definitive source on this yet?
Got some acquaintances on there, gunna be a sleepless night tonight…
I would like to know why this ship sailed from Jacksonville on Wednesday the 29th of September through Old Bahama Channel en route to San Juan Puerto Rico straight into the vicinity of a the rapidly developing hurricane JOAQUIN. In my professional judgement this was reckless and foolhardy. The interests of commerce are always subordinate to the safety of the crew, the ship, the environment and the cargo in that order. Adding to the already extreme peril of this voyage is the fact that some of this class of forty year old steam ships have only one boiler ( I am not sure if the El Faro / ex Northern Lights is one of them) rendering them very vulnerable in extreme situations such as this. May providence and good fortune save the mariners aboard the El Faro in this time of extraordinary hazard!
