Recorder from sunken cargo ship El Faro recovered
Search crews Monday evening recovered the voyage data recorder that belonged to the El Faro, a U.S. cargo ship that sank in the Caribbean last fall, the National Transportation Safety Board said.
El Faro set sail from Jacksonville, Florida, for Puerto Rico on September 30, 2015, but sank after encountering Hurricane Joaquin. The ship was declared missing on October 2, and 33 people — including four from Maine — were eventually pronounced dead. Officials launched a massive search effort, which included three hunts for the recorder, the last of which began on Friday.
Officials hope recordings found on the voyage data recorder (commonly known as a “black box”) will tell them more about what happened during El Faro’s final hours and the circumstances the crew faced.
“It’s just one component of a very complex investigation,” NTSB Chairman Christopher Hart said in a statement. “There is still a great deal of work to be done in order to understand how the many factors converged that led to the sinking and the tragic loss of 33 lives.”
Hart thanked the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the University of Rhode Island for helping with the recovery.
Technicians used an underwater remote-controlled vehicle to access the wreckage and detach the recorder.
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