With no survivors from the sinking of El Faro, investigators are hoping the head of her sister ship can give some answers.
The Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation thanked Captain Early Loftfield for taking the time to speak with them. Loftfield’s morning testimony was actually cut short when he had to go move the El Yunque and come back to finish his portion to close out the day. The El Faro and El Yunque are nearly identical, with the brief exception of “bragging rights”-according to Loftfield- where one ship used to claim to be slightly faster than the other.
Investigators spent substantial time asking Loftfield about ship stability and how they ensure cargo is loaded to support that. Loftfield says the Chief Mate plays a key part of that. While he had two permanent Chief Mates in rotation, the El Faro had high turnover in that position.
Loftfield says he has never removed cargo in expectation of adverse weather. Generally, they will instead increase lashing on the cargo itself.
He also personally has never ordered cargo to be unloaded for the purpose of stability, but believes that if he did, the decision would be accepted by the companies owning and operating the ship. TOTE Services previously said they’ve seen an increase in cargo in the past few years as the result of a competitor closing shop. Loftfield says they now transport more than 12,000 tons of cargo on about one-third of their trips, and generally pack as much cargo as possible without compromising stability.
As for how to handle a ship like El Faro in adverse weather, Loftfield says there aren’t many finite guidelines about what kind of storm system they can go through compared to which ones should be completely avoided. He says he relies on his knowledge of the ship and what it can handle in order to plan out a route that neither damages cargo nor wears out crew.
TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico President Tim Nolan says the arrival of cargo on time to its destination is second to “safe passage”. He says that’s the reason they give customers an “estimated” time of arrival instead of a guarantee- because that allows Captains to do what they feel is best for the ship.
Nolan is the only witness so far to be fully released by the Coast Guard MBOI- meaning he is no longer bound to stay quiet because of the ongoing investigation. He told WOKV he’s not willing to make any additional statements at this point, but “there will be a time”.
In all, about $16 million in cargo was lost in the El Faro sinking.
WOKV will continue to follow every minute of the MBOI. Get instant updates on Twitter.
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