El Faro: NTSB findings so far, EL Faro's boilers needed servicing

Unfortunately the results speak for themselves.
That being said, the Captain probably consulted with his senior officers and with the shipping company as for the best route or the best plan.
I bet the radio was busy for a few days before the sh!t hit the fan.
200 years ago the Captain was God and the only one in charge with no help except his barometer, but these days he has far more resources and I am sure he used them all.
Despite that it went haywire.
Not sure I would keel haul the Captain yet, let's wait and see what the official
report says. There could be factors we don't know about.

Well stated. Thank you.

Did they find it?

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/feds-wreckage-believed-el-faro-cargo-ship-located-34883026

They believe they have. I, therefore, believe they have. Guess CURV 21 will go to work to confirm.

This morning's news said the ship is sitting on her keel. Maybe helpful with the black box search ?

If she is upright and fairly complete that might make a world of difference to finding the VDR.

Perhaps no black box is needed if an ROV records the forward deck area with missing containers and hatches, as well as a banged in superstructure with missing windows, stuck lifeboats and other hurricane damage.

Reports mentioned the boilers shut down due to an over pressure problem as reported from ship to shore just before facing the hurricane(

Which "reports" from what source? Unless you can quote sources who have access to recordings or official transcripts that post is just a huge step back into the quagmire.

"... let's wait and see what the official
report says."

Jackonville newspaper on-line, just after the accident.
I did not save the link, it was not a secret, although it appeared to come from the Shipping Company's offices and nothing further has been reported.
Pretty obvious the Captain or his Radio Officer would let the owners know why they lost power.

After a rather exhaustive search of articles, I found that the radio call was recorded and has since been released by the NTSB, but could find no link to the actual transcript. Through my search I was not able to find any such statement as "the boilers shut down due to an over pressure problem as reported from ship to shore". Just that they had lost main propulsion, had a hull breach, a scupper was off, the ship was listing 15* and they were in 10'-12' seas. That theory about boiler pressure was speculated about, and a lot was made about the boiler mechanics being on board and repairs being scheduled, during the early days in the YF thread here "Hurricane Ship Sinking". I fear that speculation may now be remembered as fact. I also don't think anything is "pretty obvious" about the details the captain would have given the owners during his distress call. The captain and radio operator aren't boiler mechanics. I could see that detail being discussed if the captain had brought the boiler mechanics to the radio to confer with an on-shore mechanic, but I'm not aware of that happening.

Aye NY Capt.
No speculation on my part, just a good memory as afar as reading about the
Over pressure problem shutting down a boiler.
I have only worked aboard 1 turbine ship and we had 2 boilers.
1 single boiler should give propulsion, although not my expertise.
(I am a different kind of licensed turbine engineer)
The Captain did not initaly transmit a distress call, (it came later)
From my experience on big ships, the owners wants reports on any serious issues onboard and I have no reason to doubt that this was also the case in the El Faro incident.
As far as the Captain bringing the boiler engineer to the radio: The Chief Engineer would be in constant communication with the Captain about loss of power, whether approaching a hurricane or not.

Not quite so obvious ... no one with direct knowledge or connection to the event has claimed to know why propulsion was lost and no recordings or transcripts of the comms between ship and office have been made available to the public.

The source of all such "information" to date is pure speculation by people who appear to have some reason to see their opinions in print, no matter how far fetched or imaginative.

And to show how uninformed speculation can run amuck, there was no "radio officer" onboard El Faro. GMDSS put virtually all radio officers on the beach about 20 years ago.

Yes, Radio Officers are a thing of the past, we had them on ships when I was sailing, I know most are gone by now.
Not sure what the staffing on El Faro was so I mentioned Captain OR Radio Officer.

Either way, I quoted what I read and mentioned the source as fas as loss of propulsion as per the news report.

Gentlemen, this is a bulletin board discussing an accident, not an official inquiry and as stated before, the full report will probably come out in a year or so.
Drama Queens trying to pick each post apart are obviously aboard to demonstrate their superiority, not to add anything useful.

What purpose is served by repeating rumors and unfounded gossip, and to whom is such rumor and gossip useful?

What connection is there between the recent locating of the wreck and an obviously erroneous and a sensationalized press report that may or may not have been published "just after the accident" a month ago?

Did that add anything to the few facts which are known and are fair game for discussion?