JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Transcribed audio of conversations in the hours before El Faro sank Oct. 1 revealed that at least two crew members recommended to the captain that the ship change course to stay further away from Hurricane Joaquin.
The ship stayed on a direct course from Jacksonville to Puerto Rico and went down with 33 people on board about 22 nautical miles from the center of the Category 3 hurricane.
Since Second Mate Danielle Randolph and Third Mate Jeremie Riehm, who made the suggestions to turn, had considerably less experience at sea than their 53-year-old captain, Michael Davidson, what choice did they have but to go along with his decision to stay on a direct course from Jacksonville to Puerto Rico?
"Ships are not a democracy. They have a very linear chain of command," said Bob Russo, a maritime safety instructor. "The captain does have the authority to make that decision without any input from the crew."
At least one grieving family member of an El Faro crewman understands that structure.
"The captain being the captain, I guess he decided that he was on the best course," Patricia Quammie said. "I'm pretty sure when working for the captain, you are loyal to him. So they just decided to go whatever way he went."
Maritime attorney Rod Sullivan said that put the two junior officers in a difficult spot. He said there should be an alternative -- something in place to go above the chain of command on the ship when those in leadership roles see something unsafe.
"They should be able to file a complaint with the designated person ashore and get some kind of feedback and express their opinions, especially when you have two officers who are in agreement," Sullivan said. "This was a crisis that developed over 12, 18, 24 hours. There was no urgency that prevented the company from consulting with the captain and advising him on his decision."
The ship's owner, Tote Maritime, said earlier this week that crews are trained to deal with unfolding weather situations while at sea.
Sullivan said the ship could have turned away and totally avoided the hurricane, but it would have thrown the ship behind schedule.
Rochelle Hamm, whose husband, Frank, died aboard El Faro, is pushing for change in the maritime industry. Under her proposal, ships underway must take a diversionary course to avoid major storms, and the U.S. Coast Guard would not allow ships to leave port in the direction of a hurricane, much like air traffic controllers limit flights during major weather events.
"I just feel like all captains should have some kind of override above them who can make decisions," Hamm said. "For me, if I'm the third mate and the captain is not taking heed, I'm going to go over his head, because I'm not going to endanger myself."
Sullivan agreed that change is needed, but said it has to start with the company. He said with technology available to track ships at all times, sailing near a hurricane shouldn’t happen.
"I would say it's not the government's role to say that you can't go out to sea, but it is the government's role to tell the company you need to have somebody on shore monitoring the progress of a ship that's in a hurricane," Sullivan said.