NTSB,
“We quit looking for the El Faro data recorder because it is hard.”
I will vote next election and clean the slate because “I can”. Use your votes to put what you believe in, in office. Liberal, conservative, progressive, anyone but what you see not working in your and all our interests. “We’re from the government and we’re here to do as little as possible.”
It does seem a little quick to give up looking for the VDR but then again I don’t know how much effort they put in. I would think a straight line between where the bridge ended up and the remainder of the ship would be a good place to look. But what do I know, I would hope they already thought along those lines.
[QUOTE=Too bad steam is gone;173596]NTSB,
“We quit looking for the El Faro data recorder because it is hard.”
I will vote next election and clean the slate because “I can”. Use your votes to put what you believe in, in office. Liberal, conservative, progressive, anyone but what you see not working in your and all our interests. “We’re from the government and we’re here to do as little as possible.”[/QUOTE]
I do not believe that any of the “decision” making body at the NTSB have ever stood watch during a hurricane or looked into the eyes’ of the widows and loved ones that have suffered loss and hardship from it. I for one have done both, and I do not know which of the two I will ever be able to forget .
Too bad steam is gone is correct, It Is time to clean the slate because we can.
Mikeboat
[QUOTE=RespectMyAuthority;173598]It does seem a little quick to give up looking for the VDR but then again I don’t know how much effort they put in. I would think a straight line between where the bridge ended up and the remainder of the ship would be a good place to look. But what do I know, I would hope they already thought along those lines.[/QUOTE]
why on earth the NTSB went with a non DP vessel to perform ROV inspections and searching for the VDR is beyond my comprehension. Using shitting equipment yields similar results!
[QUOTE=Too bad steam is gone;173596]NTSB,
“We quit looking for the El Faro data recorder because it is hard.”
I will vote next election and clean the slate because “I can”. Use your votes to put what you believe in, in office. Liberal, conservative, progressive, anyone but what you see not working in your and all our interests. “We’re from the government and we’re here to do as little as possible.”[/QUOTE]
Compare the search for the wreckage of the El Faro to the effort put forth to find a spoiled rich kid. All stops were pulled out by the US Navy and USCG to find JFK Jr’s plane, a foolish private pilot that crashed on his way to a party. Guess some lives matter more than others.
yep. I said this back in the beginning when there was a chance people could have been alive and was ridiculed for the comparison.
Couldn’t agree more.
What kills me is a billion dollar operation could only muster the Apache and a few commercials tugs. If they were serious about it within the week they could have had an armada of state of the art gear looking for the ship and survivors. I’d wager they’ve spent more in legal fees than on the search in the last 6 weeks. If the CEO truly felt as bad as he was pretending during the pressers they would’ve spared no expense. I bet if one of his kids was on that ship they would’ve floated it by now.
[QUOTE=c.captain;173600]why on earth the NTSB went with a non DP vessel to perform ROV inspections and searching for the VDR is beyond my comprehension. Using shitting equipment yields similar results![/QUOTE]
It is indeed surprising that when any one of dozens of vessels with state-of-the-art equipment is available and could have been “commandeered” for the task, they sent a vessel without DP capabilities as the platform to look for anything in 15,000 ft. of water. Towing a sonar fish, yes, but how they could manage to operate a ROV efficiently from there is a big question mark???
Another thing that is surprising is that they can give up after a few days “because it is hard”.
The search for wreckage and the “black boxes” from the MH 370 is still ongoing after more than 1.5 years: https://www.atsb.gov.au/mh370-pages/updates/operational-update.aspx
This has been financed mainly by Australia and Malaysia to the tune of USD 160 millions. China contributed ships in the early search, but is not paying for the ongoing operation using civilian vessels and equipment.
Is there ANY possibilities that private funds could be raised to finance a search by a suitable vessel with suitable equipment from the Offshore industry, whether US flagged or foreign? (I presume the Navy are obliged to use US vessels only??)
This entire search has been an embarrassment to the U.S. and a slap in the face to Mariners.
[QUOTE=lm1883;173614]You should have figured that out when they left the only recoverable body at sea.[/QUOTE]
Did they put a tracking unit on it??
Even if not I’m sure they must have plotted the position and could have estimate the drift pretty accurately for a day or two.
Did they ever go back to see if they could find it again at all?
When someone from the NTSB reads this thread they are going to ask: What is DP?
Some admiral tell them it must be some unproven civilian technology, because he’s never heard of it.
[QUOTE=tugsailor;173626]When someone from the NTSB reads this thread they are going to ask: What is DP?
Some admiral tell them it must be some unproven civilian technology, because he’s never heard of it.[/QUOTE]
Just put a Navy crew in a deep submergence vehicle and tell them to avoid the VDR AT ANY COST. We’ll have it (dinged up a bit) in no time.
Not for nothing… Does anyone actually have accurate info exactly what the capabilities of theVDR that was aboard El Faro and if it was float free (with buoyancy) or was it simply attached? I would think if it was float free then Who knows how many years till someone finds it washed up on a remote beach somewhere. If it was just attached, the. It would seem a needle.
[QUOTE=cappy208;173631]Not for nothing… Does anyone actually have accurate info exactly what the capabilities of theVDR that was aboard El Faro and if it was float free (with buoyancy) or was it simply attached? I would think if it was float free then Who knows how many years till someone finds it washed up on a remote beach somewhere. If it was just attached, the. It would seem a needle.[/QUOTE]
How sturdy are the VDRs? Considering the violence that had to have occurred to rip the deckhouse apart like that, could the VDR have been damaged, too? I think that I stated early on that there are certainly plenty of vessels with capabilities well beyond that of the APACHE available right now. . . I guess they just have to figure who will pay for it. . .
Has it dawned on somebody or am I alone in this, I have a suspicious mind yes I know, in thinking that the S-VDR is not supposed to be found, it would probably be too damaging to the owners. I suspect that somebody ashore decided to call off any further search actions.
Tote will defend themselves in court by simply stating that the ship was inspected earlier to be safe and sound, totally seaworthy and manned by a capable and well trained crew, in short all was found to be in good and sound order, so there is absolutely nothing to blaim the owners for. And of course, as a empathic and responsible employer, they are perfectly willingto support the victims families with a reasonable amount of money, but not more than that. If by any chance they happen to want anything more they have to knock on the door of the master’s family.
Spot on about non-DP and never going back to retrieve the body. That gumby suit is probably still floating around or washed up on some beach but the remains are likely gone. I agree with some of the above posts. The wreck survey and VDR search wrapped up too early.
The NTSB is saving their budget for the sexy stuff like airplane crashes. The worst shipping casualty in three decades isn’t worth a serious effort with any of the state of the art equipment that is looking for work.
[QUOTE=salt’n steel;173634]Spot on about non-DP and never going back to retrieve the body. That gumby suit is probably still floating around or washed up on some beach but the remains are likely gone. I agree with some of the above posts. The wreck survey and VDR search wrapped up too early.[/QUOTE]
It may have ended up in the famous Saragossa Gyre, where it will float around forever with the eels and seaweed.
Unless the swimmer that went down to check the body forgot to re-zip the suite that is.
If there were one person who managed to get into a survival suite, why not more? Even if nobody else donned one, where is the rest of the suites. (They do float well)
[QUOTE=cappy208;173631]Not for nothing… Does anyone actually have accurate info exactly what the capabilities of theVDR that was aboard El Faro and if it was float free (with buoyancy) or was it simply attached? I would think if it was float free then Who knows how many years till someone finds it washed up on a remote beach somewhere. If it was just attached, the. It would seem a needle.[/QUOTE]
It has been established earlier that this was the simple type w/o a float-free part, so bolted down on the Monkey Island,
If it got torn free from it’s moorings it may have sunk into the mud, thus not be seen by Side-scan sonar, or by ROV cameras.
But since the search area can now be narrowed down to something manageable it is possible to find it with magnetometer, or by using a shallow Boomer to detect anything below the seabed. It is small, but given the right equipment IT CAN BE FOUND.
As much as I was hoping that the NTSB would conduct a through investigation, the latest news makes be believe that they really do not care. I am sure that the Tote Rep, ABS and USCG that were onboard the Apache were very happy when the search was canceled.
There has been to much chatter going on about the possibility if the El Faro sailing on One Boiler and that the Poles were onboard to do Boiler Repairs. Hopefully the Company that employed the Poles leaks the real reason for having the riding crew onboard. Plus the fact that there was a “Tote Maritime” Chief Engineer listed on the crew list. There had to be a reason that he was there and I have a hard time believing that he was there to watch them run some conduit.
This has or should have brought to light just how little a DEAD MERCHANT Sailor is worth and this should serve as a wakeup call to all that sail. No matter how much B.S. the company tries to blow up our asses, in the end all we are is numbers to them. And as usual the only thing that matters is their Bottom Line.