The Last Radio: Why El Faro Steered Into Hurricane Joaquín

The Last Radio: Why El Faro Steered Into Hurricane Joaquín

Horror and disbelief: a seaworthy ship, 33 souls, and a captain who voiced confidence as a Category Four storm closed in - yet none returned. What made a vessel that passed every inspection sail straight toward Hurricane Joaquín and never come back?

In this episode, we tell the story of El Faro from departure to silence, following the bridge audio, ship modifications, and the conflicting warnings that played out at sea - how did official approvals, a 40-year-old hull, and decisions on the bridge combine to send thirty-three people to the bottom of the Atlantic?

Person: Captain Michael Davidson
Person: Second Officer Danielle Randolph
Date: October 1, 2015
Event: Sinking of El Faro during Hurricane Joaquín
Location: Atlantic Ocean

- 33 people were aboard El Faro when it sank on October 1, 2015.
- El Faro was built in 1975 and by 2015 had been in service for 40 years.
- The ship had a 90-foot midbody insertion performed in 1992 (was "stretched").
- New lift-on, lift-off cranes added 4,875 long tons of fixed ballast and raised the load line by ~2 feet in 2005-2006.
- Investigators recovered a voyage data recorder with 26 hours of bridge audio and a 500-page transcript.

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