The Tribune

JACKSONVILLE

Associated Press

The El Faro’s former chief engineer said five Polish nationals aboard the vessel when it sank would not have been working on projects connected to the freighter’s engines.

James Robinson, head engineer aboard the ship until just before it sank on October 1, testified during the seventh day of a US Coast Guard investigative hearing on the accident that killed 33 mariners.

The cargo ship lost propulsion while sailing from Jacksonville to Puerto Rico and sank in Bahamian waters after getting caught in Hurricane Joaquin.

Mr Robinson said the Polish crew was onboard preparing the ship for its imminent changeover to the Alaska trade on January 1.

He said he didn’t believe any of the work assigned to them was connected to the main propulsion system. Testimony revealed the ship’s boilers were due for maintenance, but Mr Robinson said yesterday he believes they were safe.

The one body found by Coast Guard crews searching for the El Faro was too decomposed to identify, so it was left to be collected later while searchers continued seeking survivors.

Coast Guard Captain Todd Coggeshall, who led search efforts for the freighter after it disappeared off Crooked Island, said a tracker put on the body for later recovery did not work, so it was never located.

Capt Coggeshall said it would have been possible to collect the remains right then, but the crew left the body to resume looking for survivors.

He said the remains were too decomposed to identify by gender or ethnicity.