Tristram Korten

“How could this have happened? How, in the twenty-first century, with all the technology available to us, did a ship run by a modern American corporation bypass all safeguards, all warnings, and sail into a hurricane?” – Tristram Korten, Into the Storm

This book is a fine piece of journalism. In 2015, two cargo ships were caught in the path of Hurricane Joaquin. The author has skillfully integrated the stories of the El Faro and the Minouche, along with the heroic rescue efforts of the US Coast Guard, into a riveting account that keeps the reader engaged from start to finish.

The author documents his sources for each chapter, relying on interviews, research, and recorded transcripts. He even indicates which quotes are based on a single versus multiple sources. Korten keeps the narrative tightly focused, inserting only pertinent background, and conveys an amazing amount of information in this slim volume.

It is a tale of two captains and two crews, the power of the sea, factors that contributed to disaster, the loyalty of sailors to each other, skilled helicopter rescue efforts, and lessons to be learned. Korten also takes a broader look at the weather trends and what may be expected in the future. Anyone interested in maritime history will want to check this one out. Highly recommended!
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There is very little reason not to be engaged by the story of two ships caught in the jaws of Hurricane Joaquin in 2015, and the very different fates of their crews. At the time, I wondered at what twist of bad luck would wipe out an American-flag container ship, while leaving alive the crew of a non-descript tramp steamer. The answer lies in how the peculiarities of the American merchant marine allowed a time-expired ship with less-than-adequate safety precautions to sail, compounded by a master who, in the account Korten provides, seemed to lack engagement and situational awareness. Highly recommended.… (mehr)

I remember the 2015 sinking of the container ship El Faro when it got caught in Hurricane Joaquin in the Caribbean, and wondered how and why a U.S. ship with modern navigation devices and availability of accurate weather forecasts would have been in the area. I recently came across two audio books dealing with that maritime disaster. Both are based on the recovered ship voice recordings, the Coast Guard inquest hearings, as well as numerous interviews of family members, rescue team members, and corporate employees familiar with the incident.

The first of the books I found was "Into the Storm: Two Ships, a Deadly Hurricane, and an Epic Battle for Survival", by Tristram Korten. The second was titled "Into the Raging Sea", by ​Rachel Slade.

Both describe in graphic detail how a huge American container ship found its way into the eye of a hurricane and was sunk with all hands in October, 2015. The ship tracked the storm for several days, and should have easily managed to sail around the worst of the hurricane, yet it did the opposite. The books detail how the hurricanes path was difficult to predict, how it didn't follow the predicted path as expected, and how the ship's captain failed to understand that the shipboard storm data he was receiving was not as current as he believed. He also appeared to be overconfident in the ability of the ship to ride out the storm, expecting to be on the edges of the hurricane heading FROM the storm instead of INTO it, and quite probably was feeling pressure from the home office to deliver his cargo on-time as promised and without wasting valuable fuel and time by steering an alternate path.

Like black boxes on commercial aircraft, the SS El Faro ​voice recording system ​on the ship's bridge record​ed the conversations of the Captain and deck officers as the storm developed and worsened. The recordings continued ​from just prior to the ​development of the ​storm, right up until the time the captain order​ed​ "abandon ship" as the ship was going down. The recordings give a sense of building tension as the storm worsened, and as some of the ship's officers tried to talk the Captain into navigating a longer but safer path. The books also identify problems with the ship beyond the misunderstandings associated with the hurricane path and speed. Cargo shifted during the storm, faulty deck coverings allowed water to flood certain compartments, a poor design resulted in loss of the ships propulsion engines due to loss of suction on main oil pumps ​caused by the ship's port side list, the lifeboats were outdated, the ships anemometer, or wind gauge, had been broken for years, etc., etc., etc.

I would not hesitate to recommend either of these books for readers interested in maritime stories. Tristram Korten's book, "Into the Storm", also includes a gripping description of how the Coast Guard responded to the sinking of ​the SS El Faro as well as the successful rescue of the crew on another ship caught in the effects of the hurricane, the MV Minouche. The heroism of the Coast Guard rescue helicopter team and especially the elite Coast Guard swimmers is must reading.

Rachel Slade's book "Into the Raging Sea", might use ​a ​more ​​dramatic writing​ style​. It contains less information about the Coast Guard rescue teams sent into the storm to try to​ find and​ rescue survivors, ​but goes into more detail about the ​search and ​recovery of the audio recording ​"black box" ​from the El Faro. She's also a little more critical of the ship's Master, Captain Davidson, and the decisions he made as the storm sailed into the hurricane. She also pays ​a more complete ​tribute to each member of the crew by including each crewman' name, place of residence, and position.

I also came across a third related book, which I haven't read, which is titled "Run the Storm: A Savage Hurricane, a Brave Crew, and the Wreck of the SS El Faro, by George Michelsen Foy. I can't comment on Foy's book, but assume its basic content will be similar to the first two I mentioned.
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Follows the fate of two ships, El Farro - a US owned and crewed container ship from the 70s almost three football fields long - and the Minouche - a primarily Filipino-crewed freighter a third of the size from the 80s flying the flag of a landlocked country -, who danced with hurricane Joaquin in 2015.

Compelling tale - nature terrifies in an awe-inducing fashion while humanity rollercoasters along the morality spectrum with interesting shipping and weather-preparedness tangents.

uuuuuuuuuuuuh, storms (of all varieties, including non-weather)… (mehr)