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El Faro Ship sinking: El Faro may have suffered boiler blast

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Rochelle Hamm, second from left, the wife of El Faro crew member Frank Hamm, is embraced by the family members of other El Faro crew members after they posed with photographs of their loved ones during a break in a U.S. Coast Guard investigative hearing, Friday, Feb. 10, 2017 in Jacksonville, Fla. The 790-foot freighter heading from Jacksonville, Fla., to San Juan, Puerto Rico sailed into the eye of Hurricane Joaquin near the Bahamas on Oct. 1, 2015 and sank, killing all 33 crew members. (Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Testimony at a U.S. Coast Guard investigative hearing revealed that a cargo ship that sank after losing propulsion in a hurricane could have suffered a catastrophic boiler explosion.

Lou O’Donnell, assistant chief surveyor with the American Bureau of Shipping, told the panel on Friday that the cargo ship’s hot boiler could have exploded if it was exposed to cold water entering the sinking ship.

The El Faro sank on Oct. 1, 2015, while travelling between Jacksonville, Florida, and Puerto Rico. All 33 aboard died.

Coast Guard Capt. Jason Neubauer said images of the ship’s wreckage 15,000-feet-deep in the Atlantic show evidence of damage that could possibly be from an explosion.

O’Donnell said he had reviewed the photos, but could not say for sure if an explosion had occurred.

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