Last November, we posted that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) had ended its search for the El Faro‘s Voyage Data Recorder (VDR), the so-called “black box,” which might have provided answers to questions about the sinking of the 790-foot long ro/ro-container ship. El Faro was lost in Hurricane Joaquin with the loss of 33 crew in the beginning of October in 2015. The wreckage of the ship was located off Crooked Island in the southeastern Bahamas. Now the NTSB has restarted the search using a “sophisticated autonomous underwater vehicle”, AUV Sentry.
Even with the most advanced technology, the job of locating the “black box” could be daunting. The black box was located on the bridge deckhouse top which was ripped off the rest of the superstructure when the ship sank. The black box is missing in very, very deep water. The wreckage lies in approximately 15,000 of water or roughly a half mile deeper than the wreck of the Titanic.
To get a feel for just how deep the oceans is where the El Faro sank, here is a video about the search for the missing Malaysia Air MH370 which is believed to have disappeared in the Indian Ocean in water about as deep as where the El Faro wreckage was located.
15,000 feet blows my mind. Almost 3 miles.
Anyone know why they stopped the search and then restarted it? My first thought was weather seasons, but it’s not like we’re waiting on ice to thaw in the Bahamas.
I believe that it was mostly political pressure. A Florida congressman or senator got involved, if I am not mistaken.