the Jacksonville Port Authority / Harbor Master isn't saying anything. https://www.jaxport.com/ some articles insinuate El Faro may have been pressured to leave port & make room for arriving vessels?
TOTE finally made a statement saying the final call on traveling in the hurricane lied with them, did they insist the captain not deviate from his route and timeline or did they do enough to disuade the captain from that course, if he indeed was the one insisting? I don't think the email quoted from the femaile crew member has enough info in it to know that http://www.wcsh6.com/story/news/local/2015/10/06/tote-says-they-could-have-vetoed-el-faro-captains-decision-set-sail/73432450/
I read on another site that a former, fellow mariner said the captain had been fired from a previous job for "being too cautious" - is this a regular happening in the industry?
most of the timeline reports I found don't list a time of departure, like this one - why is that? is it because it could not be certainly verified and they weer using good journalism? http://www.news4jax.com/news/timeline-of-el-faros-last-voyage/35660020
Many of the vessel tracking sites I posted earlier had erroneous and/or conflicting info, for example, 1 had a couple October dates in their path that were no where near the timeline, I don't recall which one. Now they have less info, need a subscription to see further back, I've not done that & I don't know which are the most accurate
Wikipedia (2 diff) says it's departure was 2 am on the 30th?
was the age/condition of the ship suitable for the cargo she was carrying and speed she was traveling? did she have unforeseen, but not unusual, system failures? Were the 5 who were on board to maintain the ship fully qualified? Was the inspection it had recently passed done properly?
were the forecasts the vessel had the best, most accurate, using the most probabilistic model or was there reason for the captain to believe otherwise? did they use a private service and not give as much credence to the NHC? many do, there are MANY companies that provide that type of service
there are a lot of articles/sites quoting former employees, school mates, family members, union members, etc, etc, etc... each individual had their own opinion and each media source, depending on the regional interests, also has their own spin and still others just parrot what the AP has written - just a very few of them:
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2015-10-05/story/who-michael-davidson-captain-missing-el-faro
http://bangordailynews.com/2015/10/05/news/state/el-faro-part-of-tote-maritime-fleet-owned-by-washington-conglomerate/
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/world/article/A-timeline-on-the-search-for-missing-cargo-ship-6550884.php
http://www.gcaptain.com/forum/maritime-news/17656-sea-star-el-faro.html
https://pbs.twimg.com/tweet_video/CQVCC1sXAAAOgku.mp4
bottom line is that the investigation has barely begun, we don't have all the facts, but it's a tragic, heartbreaking situation. I know I, as well as all of my friends and relatives in the maritime industry or naval service, are hurting for all who lost their lives and their loved ones
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_shipwrecks_in_2015
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