Into the Raging Sea: Thirty-three mariners, one megastorm and the sinking of El Faro

Into the Raging Sea: Thirty-three mariners, one megastorm and the sinking of El Faro
Rachel Slade

In the tradition of The Perfect Storm and Into Thin Air, Rachel Slade’s Into the Raging Sea is a nail-biting account of the sinking of the container ship El Faro, the crew of thirty-three who perished onboard, and the destructive forces of globalisation that put the ship in harm’s way.On 1 October 2015, Hurricane Joaquin barreled into the Bermuda Triangle and swallowed the container ship El Faro whole, resulting in one of the worst shipping disasters in decades. No one could fathom how a vessel equipped with satellite communications, a sophisticated navigation system, and cutting-edge weather forecasting could suddenly vanish – until now.Relying on hundreds of exclusive interviews with family members and maritime experts, as well as the words of the crew members themselves – whose conversations were captured by the ship’s data recorder – Rachel Slade unravels the mystery of the sinking of El Faro. As she recounts the final twenty-four hours onboard, Slade vividly depicts the officers’ anguish and fear as they struggled to carry out Captain Michael Davidson’s increasingly bizarre commands, which they knew would steer them straight into the eye of the storm. Taking a hard look at America’s aging merchant marine fleet, Slade also reveals the truth about modern shipping – a cutthroat industry plagued by razor-thin profits and ever more violent hurricanes fueled by global warming.A richly reported account of a singular tragedy, Into the Raging Sea takes us into the heart of an age-old American industry, casting new light on the hardworking crew of El Faro who paid the ultimate price in the name of profit.

Copyright (#ulink_2f5a84c9-c124-5fb8-96e9-02fb7b5ee8b8)

4th Estate

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London SE1 9GF

www.4thEstate.co.uk (http://www.4thEstate.co.uk)

This eBook first published in Great Britain by 4th Estate in 2018

Copyright © 2018 by Rachel Slade

Cover design by Allison Saltzman

Cover images © Mike Hill/Photographer’s Choice/Getty Images

Rachel Slade asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins

Source ISBN: 9780008302436

Ebook Edition © August 2017 ISBN: 9780008302450

Version: 2018-04-23

Dedication (#ulink_abb65e61-d384-538f-a7f5-e77c5977fae7)

To the families and friends of thoselost on El Faro.

No one should have to endure such sorrow.

Epigraph (#ulink_32fd86c4-16bf-51f2-a244-540543f10f28)

There is nothing more enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving than the life at sea.

—LORD JIM, JOSEPH CONRAD

CONTENTS

COVER (#u47ae9ba3-e66c-5b7a-a604-7e26adc41d58)

TITLE PAGE (#u0b299b78-1c41-5722-8583-33e8a71d15b7)

COPYRIGHT (#ucd11eaef-e576-5d50-8f1c-9f13476f63a8)

DEDICATION (#uf10a7f09-d284-51d7-a42a-d4534ac2107e)

EPIGRAPH (#uc9356f3a-c57a-5857-be25-b063eca99712)

CAST OF CHARACTERS

CHAIN OF COMMAND ABOARD EL FARO

EL FARO PLANS AND CROSS-SECTION

A NOTE ON THE TEXT

PART I

CHAPTER 1: THE CLOCK IS TICKING

CHAPTER 2: BLOUNT ISLAND

CHAPTER 3: TROPICAL STORM JOAQUIN

CHAPTER 4: THIRD MATE JEREMIE RIEHM

CHAPTER 5: A HURRICANE IS NOT A POINT ON A MAP

CHAPTER 6: SECOND MATE DANIELLE RANDOLPH

CHAPTER 7: COLLISION COURSE

CHAPTER 8: HULL NUMBER 670

CHAPTER 9: AFTERNOON

CHAPTER 10: CAPTAIN MICHAEL DAVIDSON

CHAPTER 11: QUESTION AUTHORITY?

CHAPTER 12: THE JONES ACT

CHAPTER 13: EVENING

CHAPTER 14: NIGHT

CHAPTER 15: NECESITAMOS LA MERCANCÍA