Route edit
Construction, modification and earlier career edit
In 1992 the ship El Faro underwent a conversion at Atlantic Marine Shipyard in Mobile Alabama. A 90 foot (27 meters) mid-body which included an additional cargo hold, designated 2A and a spar deck was added. [10] In 2005-2006 El Faro was modified a second time also at Atlantic Marine Shipyard to carry lift-on/lift-off (LO/LO container stacks). The containers carried above the main deck raised the ship's center of gravity requiring an additional 4875 long tons (4953.2 metric tons) of fixed ballast to be added which raised the ship's load by about two feet. These changes required however a damage stability assessment however one was not done. [13]
Hurricane Joaquin edit
At the time, Hurricane Joaquin was still a tropical storm, but meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center forecast that it would likely become a hurricane by the morning of October 1, on a southwest trajectory toward the Bahamas.[16] The vessel's voyage plan took it within 175 nmi (320 km; 200 mi) of the storm, where seas in excess of 10 ft (3 m) were likely.[17]
[[
|thumb|NHC Joaquin wind fields]]
Stability edit
Because of the modifications in 1992 and 2006 At departure on the accident voyage the El Faro would not have met stability criteria for new ships because the ship did not have sufficient righting energy [righting arm][1]
Downflooding through Ventilation Openings edit
It is unlikely the that teh ship could survive uncontrolled flooding into even a single cargo hold with winds in excess or 70 or 80 kts and it is unlikely that it could