El
Faro’s sister ship was scrapped for “commercial reasons”, according to the
company over the vessel.
Through
this latest hearing session of the Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation
working the El Faro sinking, consistent questions have arisen regarding some of
the potential issues on board El Yunque, specifically in connection to her vent
trunks. This session was also the first that investigators publicly confirmed
El Yunque was being scrapped instead of heading to the Alaskan trade, but until
Monday’s testimony, it wasn’t clear what went in to that decision.
TOTE
attorneys questioning TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico Director of Operations Lee
Peterson, who was the TOTE Services Director of Safety and Marine Operations at
the time of the sinking, asked him to point blank speak to whether the Coast
Guard had ordered the ship be scrapped because of safety concerns.
“The
decision on scrapping the El Yunque- I was not involved in that decision, but
my understanding is that it was a commercial decision and it was based on the
conversions that were ongoing with the Orca class ships,” Peterson says.
El
Faro and El Yunque were set to be converted for the Alaskan trade in order to
temporarily take the place of two Orca-class ships on that route, which were
thought to need engine replacements, according to Peterson. He says the new
engines were to meet new emissions standards, and would take the ships out of
service, at a foreign shipyard, for an extended period of time.
The
engine manufacturer later determined the engines could be converted, instead of
replaced.
“The
current conversion, a lot of it can be done underway on the vessels. And for
the required shipyard periods, they’re a short enough duration where we don’t
require a replacement ship to fill in for them,” Peterson says.
As
a result, he says they no longer needed El Yunque to spell the Alaska ships.
His attorney asked whether he was aware of conversations of other commercial
factors that also went in to the decision to scrap, but Peterson says he was
not.
The
MBI wanted to be explicitly clear, though.
“Is
it your testimony that the El Yunque was not scrapped at least in part due to
safety concerns that would have to be corrected and the substantial amount of
work to be done,” asked MBI Chair Captain Jason Neubauer.
Peterson
initially responded “correct”, before consulting with his attorney and stating
that he wasn’t aware of any safety considerations in the decision. TOTE
Services Attorney Luke Reid soon added a caveat, though.
“He
gave you what his understanding was with respect to the reason, and it involved
Orcas and thinks like that in his testimony. Sitting down with Mr. Peterson, we
realized that that was not a correct statement. So his understanding was not
correct, I just wanted to make sure that’s corrected for the record,” Reid
says.
The
clear line was blurred further, when some on the MBI introduced glimpses of
conversations or correspondences they appeared to question could be involved in
the decision. Board Member Keith Fawcett asked Peterson if he was aware of
discussions in September 2015 related to delaying the Orca conversions because
of a “cascading series of events”, which included problems with the Isla Bella.
The Isla Bella is one of the ships that was going to replace El Faro and El
Yunque, who were then going to spell the Alaskan ships. Neubauer further asked
whether Peterson was aware of a meeting between senior TOTE executives and the
US Coast Guard headquarters to discuss the scrapping of El Yunque.
On
both accounts, Peterson was not aware of the conversations.
Through
this hearing session, the MBI Board has been closely examining specifically the
state of El Yunque’s vent trunks. Earlier testimony shows there was severe
wastage found in one of the trunks in 3 hold during a Document of Compliance
Audit. The Coast Guard says the American Bureau of Shipping was tasked with
inspecting the other vent trunks, and they cleared them. During a later drydock
on the Northwest, though, wastage was found by the Coast Guard in many other
trunks, and inspectors believed it to be long term.
TOTE
Services Port Engineer Tim Neeson tells the MBI he was involved in the
inspection of the other vent trunks, after the ship had been moved to the
drydock. He crawled inside and chipped
at the metal to determine the strength and state.
“Pretty
bad, pretty rusty,” Neeson says.
He
says they opened “a considerable amount” of the vent trunks, but not all of
them.
They
made a plan to address the needed repairs, which included changing questionable
steel. Plans changed with the decision to scrap the vessel.
There has been no documentation of severe
wastage found on El Faro at this time, but investigators have noted that they
will continue to present evidence connected to her sister ship because of the
similarities and because it can help speak to how the vessels were being
managed. The vent trunks specifically have also become a point of interest,
since an MBI-requested report presented during this hearing session showed it’s
possible water was able to get in through the vent trunks, contributing to the
flooding El Faro was experiencing ahead of her sinking.
Source:
WOKV. 14 February 2017
2 comments:
Nice reporting.
Nice reporting, sir. Interested if you have any follow-ups. Author Bob Frump
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