NTSB launching new search for El Faro data recorder

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Transportation Safety Board announced Thursday it's launching a new search for the sunken El Faro's voyage data recorder.

The search is expected to begin in April and last about two weeks. The exact date will be announced at a later time.

“The voyage data recorder may hold vital information about the challenges encountered by the crew in trying to save the ship,” said NTSB Chairman Christopher A. Hart. “Getting that information could be very helpful to our investigation.”

A search area of approximately 13.5 square miles will be photo and video documented by Sentry, an underwater vehicle that will be launched from the research vessel Atlantis, which is owned by the U.S. Navy.

Sentry can work at depths of nearly 20,000 feet and can be equipped with a wide array of sonar, camera and other sensors.

Senator Bill Nelson first made the announcement about the new search on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon.

He has urged the NTSB to take every step possible to recover the data recorder to prevent tragedies like this from happening again.

Investigators have theories on how and why the ship was listing and lost propulsion. Nelson said the data recorder would leave nothing to question.

A spokesperson from TOTE, the company that owned the El Faro, issued a statement saying, "TOTE is fully supporting the NTSB investigation and appreciate the hard work and dedication that goes into this process. Our goal throughout the investigation is to learn everything possible about the loss of our crew and vessel.  We welcome safety related recommendations that benefit our seafarers: there is no more important legacy for our employees and their families."

The El Faro freighter ship sank on Oct. 1 while en route from Jacksonville to Puerto Rico after navigating into the path of a hurricane and losing power. The ship had 33 crew members on board. No bodies were ever recovered.

The El Faro was located 15,000 feet below the surface near the Bahamas on Oct. 31.

Video revealed that the navigation bridge structure and the deck below it had separated from the ship.

The missing structure included the mast and its base where the VDR was mounted. Neither the mast nor the VDR was found in the vicinity of the navigation bridge structure.

The initial search mission was completed on Nov. 15.

Finding the El Faro wreckage nearly 3 miles below the surface of the ocean isn’t enough for Nelson,  who wants to know why the captain steered the ship into the path of the hurricane and why the freighter started taking on water, and listed, before ultimately losing power.

"All of those things should not happen all at once, so the NTSB has done all of this investigation," Nelson said. "I believe they can go back down and see if they can find the recorder. That would give them every piece of information they may (need to) know to find out why those mistakes were made.”

The announcement of the new search comes days before the U.S. Coast Guard holds public hearings on the El Faro investigation.

Capt. Jason Neubauer will lead the hearings at the Prime Osborn Convention Center in Jacksonville.

He hopes the 10-day series of hearings will lead to new laws that will prevent such tragedies.

“(We want to determine) accountability for the accident. We are looking for any evidence of misconduct, negligence of attention to duty of any party that could have led to the casualty,” Neubauer said

The hearings will take place from Feb. 16-26 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Ten crew members' families settled for more than $500,000 each with TOTE Maritime, the company that owned El Faro.