Posted:
October 28, 2015
By David Weathers
National Vice President, Inland Waters
AMO received word from TOTE Services that they had lost contact with the S/S El Faro after a disturbing emergency call from the ship on Thursday, Oct. 1. I was at a meeting at AMO's Washington DC office, and took a flight to Jacksonville that night. I was joined there by AMO National Assistant Vice President Danny Robichaux.
We went directly to the headquarters of TOTE Services in Jacksonville. We were immediately taken into the incident command center and brought up to speed on the search. We were then taken to the family information 24-hour call center, which was manned by TOTE Services and TOTE Maritime personnel. TOTE Maritime is the new name for the company that was formerly Sea Star.
I am writing this because we all feel it is important for AMO members everywhere to know what we witnessed during this operation.
Before continuing, I urge everyone to contribute to the El Faro relief fund AMO has established for the officers' families. Contributions can be made via PayPal and by credit card on the AMO website. Information about the fund, including the mailing address for contributing by check, is also available on the AMO website. This is a charitable fund and donations, depending upon your individual circumstances, may be tax deductible. This fund will remain in place and will be needed to help support the El Faro families for years to come, so please contribute.
During the week following our arrival, Danny and I alternated between the incident command center and the family information call center. Working with TOTE personnel, we provided background information based on our experience (I have spent 20 years as a seagoing engineer with eight years on steam ships like the El Faro, and Danny, who came ashore last December after more than 30 years as a captain on AMO-contracted tugs, provided insight on topside seamanship). We observed all aspects of the search and helped out where we could.
TOTE offered to bring any crew member's family who wished to come to Jacksonville. After a short and hectic period of making contact with family members and travel arrangements, several of the AMO families came to Jacksonville. TOTE absorbed all costs associated with this.
TOTE manned all aspects of the response center 24/7 through the long days and longer nights of the search. We became regulars at incident command and at the call center. TOTE welcomed our participation and input and acquainted us with the outside experts on site and the USCG response team. Everything was made available to us and nothing was hidden.
The entire body of employees of both TOTE Services and TOTE Maritime put their hearts and souls into supporting the search efforts and providing what information was available. Staffers who never knew anyone on the ship volunteered to be up all night and all day to help. Every bit of all sides of these two companies was put into finding the crew of the El Faro and helping the families of those aboard the ship. The owners of Saltchuk, the parent company of the TOTE family of companies, were in Jacksonville watching and encouraging.
We found several Polish speaking AMO officers to help translate for the Polish families of the riding crew onboard the El Faro - our members were happy to help in any way they could. I received calls and emails from AMO members near and far asking how they could be of assistance.
We spent a lot of time with the AMO families going through everything that was happening. As the situation become more and more worrisome, AMO National President Paul Doell flew to Jacksonville and worked closely with us in all our efforts.
We saw the first responders - USCG mainly, but also commercial experts hired by TOTE - working night and day to try to find the ship and crew. The USCG flew their search planes into the heart of Hurricane Joaquin well past their normal margins of safety, and their cutters sailed into horrible conditions on the surface. Like many US mariners, I have a complicated perspective on the US Coast Guard, but when it comes to search and rescue, there is no better. The people involved in the search and rescue effort proved that time and time again. We learned that the sister of one of our El Faro officers worked in the US Navy P-8 squadron that was involved in the operation. Those Navy aircrews knew they were looking for her brother and that made the search very personal for them. All of these people - USCG, USN, USAF, the TOTE family of companies and the commercial tug companies TOTE hired to help in the search - put their all into the operation.
As time went on, and very little was being found, this took a toll on everyone, but most of all on the families of those on the El Faro. The SIU graciously made their union hall in Jacksonville available for nightly town hall style meetings, USCG briefings, and question and answer sessions with the USCG and TOTE's senior management.
The USCG captain who coordinated the search efforts out of Miami held conference calls for the families several times daily to keep them informed. On a very difficult call Tuesday morning after the El Faro went missing, he told everyone he was very concerned about the status of the crew and their chances of survival. The same USCG captain came to Jacksonville the next day to make the painful announcement that the search was being suspended as of that evening at dusk. This officer clearly took these calls and that final announcement very hard. He and his people had struggled for a long time and didn't get the result any of us so hoped for.
Paul, Danny and I met with the AMO families in Jacksonville privately after this. We discussed everything we knew about the search process, and what to expect next in a very difficult and emotional meeting. These families are ours and they will be forever.
Steve Nickerson and his hardworking team of AMO Plans benefit experts, through their own pain for the crew on the El Faro, did a great job preparing a summary of the benefits each family would receive. Steve and his AMO Plans staff are working with the families on getting the details and procedures in place to assist them.
As we enter into the aftermath of the El Faro's sinking, every AMO member has questions and theories about what happened and why. Both NTSB and USCG are performing investigations. I think the memory of our lost shipmates deserves that we remain silent pending the results of these investigations. I would emphasize what a very experienced AMO captain friend told me, "I wasn't on that bridge."
I think we all have cried tears over our lost brothers and sisters. I know I sure have. We have gotten messages of sympathy from our members and from others around the world, to include many who compete with us. The El Faro truly has cut across all lines.
AMO has committed to attending every memorial service for the AMO officers on the El Faro to which we are invited. At this point, our union has attended several in Maine and one at Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
I would say that our time in Jacksonville was the hardest any of us have seen. But I know it is much harder for the families, and I know we were all grateful that we could do something to help and be of service to them. We always will be and AMO and the AMO Plans are here to provide all the support we can.
I would encourage any AMO member who has questions on any of this to get in touch. We are willing to discuss anything at any time. My contact information, along with Paul's and Danny's, is below.
David Weathers:
Cell phone: 409-996-7362
Paul Doell:
Cell phone: 954-881-5651
Daniel Robichaux:
Cell phone: 985-201-5462
El Faro: Report from Jacksonville
By David Weathers
National Vice President, Inland Waters
AMO received word from TOTE Services that they had lost contact with the S/S El Faro after a disturbing emergency call from the ship on Thursday, Oct. 1. I was at a meeting at AMO's Washington DC office, and took a flight to Jacksonville that night. I was joined there by AMO National Assistant Vice President Danny Robichaux.
We went directly to the headquarters of TOTE Services in Jacksonville. We were immediately taken into the incident command center and brought up to speed on the search. We were then taken to the family information 24-hour call center, which was manned by TOTE Services and TOTE Maritime personnel. TOTE Maritime is the new name for the company that was formerly Sea Star.
I am writing this because we all feel it is important for AMO members everywhere to know what we witnessed during this operation.
Before continuing, I urge everyone to contribute to the El Faro relief fund AMO has established for the officers' families. Contributions can be made via PayPal and by credit card on the AMO website. Information about the fund, including the mailing address for contributing by check, is also available on the AMO website. This is a charitable fund and donations, depending upon your individual circumstances, may be tax deductible. This fund will remain in place and will be needed to help support the El Faro families for years to come, so please contribute.
During the week following our arrival, Danny and I alternated between the incident command center and the family information call center. Working with TOTE personnel, we provided background information based on our experience (I have spent 20 years as a seagoing engineer with eight years on steam ships like the El Faro, and Danny, who came ashore last December after more than 30 years as a captain on AMO-contracted tugs, provided insight on topside seamanship). We observed all aspects of the search and helped out where we could.
TOTE offered to bring any crew member's family who wished to come to Jacksonville. After a short and hectic period of making contact with family members and travel arrangements, several of the AMO families came to Jacksonville. TOTE absorbed all costs associated with this.
TOTE manned all aspects of the response center 24/7 through the long days and longer nights of the search. We became regulars at incident command and at the call center. TOTE welcomed our participation and input and acquainted us with the outside experts on site and the USCG response team. Everything was made available to us and nothing was hidden.
The entire body of employees of both TOTE Services and TOTE Maritime put their hearts and souls into supporting the search efforts and providing what information was available. Staffers who never knew anyone on the ship volunteered to be up all night and all day to help. Every bit of all sides of these two companies was put into finding the crew of the El Faro and helping the families of those aboard the ship. The owners of Saltchuk, the parent company of the TOTE family of companies, were in Jacksonville watching and encouraging.
We found several Polish speaking AMO officers to help translate for the Polish families of the riding crew onboard the El Faro - our members were happy to help in any way they could. I received calls and emails from AMO members near and far asking how they could be of assistance.
We spent a lot of time with the AMO families going through everything that was happening. As the situation become more and more worrisome, AMO National President Paul Doell flew to Jacksonville and worked closely with us in all our efforts.
We saw the first responders - USCG mainly, but also commercial experts hired by TOTE - working night and day to try to find the ship and crew. The USCG flew their search planes into the heart of Hurricane Joaquin well past their normal margins of safety, and their cutters sailed into horrible conditions on the surface. Like many US mariners, I have a complicated perspective on the US Coast Guard, but when it comes to search and rescue, there is no better. The people involved in the search and rescue effort proved that time and time again. We learned that the sister of one of our El Faro officers worked in the US Navy P-8 squadron that was involved in the operation. Those Navy aircrews knew they were looking for her brother and that made the search very personal for them. All of these people - USCG, USN, USAF, the TOTE family of companies and the commercial tug companies TOTE hired to help in the search - put their all into the operation.
As time went on, and very little was being found, this took a toll on everyone, but most of all on the families of those on the El Faro. The SIU graciously made their union hall in Jacksonville available for nightly town hall style meetings, USCG briefings, and question and answer sessions with the USCG and TOTE's senior management.
The USCG captain who coordinated the search efforts out of Miami held conference calls for the families several times daily to keep them informed. On a very difficult call Tuesday morning after the El Faro went missing, he told everyone he was very concerned about the status of the crew and their chances of survival. The same USCG captain came to Jacksonville the next day to make the painful announcement that the search was being suspended as of that evening at dusk. This officer clearly took these calls and that final announcement very hard. He and his people had struggled for a long time and didn't get the result any of us so hoped for.
Paul, Danny and I met with the AMO families in Jacksonville privately after this. We discussed everything we knew about the search process, and what to expect next in a very difficult and emotional meeting. These families are ours and they will be forever.
Steve Nickerson and his hardworking team of AMO Plans benefit experts, through their own pain for the crew on the El Faro, did a great job preparing a summary of the benefits each family would receive. Steve and his AMO Plans staff are working with the families on getting the details and procedures in place to assist them.
As we enter into the aftermath of the El Faro's sinking, every AMO member has questions and theories about what happened and why. Both NTSB and USCG are performing investigations. I think the memory of our lost shipmates deserves that we remain silent pending the results of these investigations. I would emphasize what a very experienced AMO captain friend told me, "I wasn't on that bridge."
I think we all have cried tears over our lost brothers and sisters. I know I sure have. We have gotten messages of sympathy from our members and from others around the world, to include many who compete with us. The El Faro truly has cut across all lines.
AMO has committed to attending every memorial service for the AMO officers on the El Faro to which we are invited. At this point, our union has attended several in Maine and one at Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
I would say that our time in Jacksonville was the hardest any of us have seen. But I know it is much harder for the families, and I know we were all grateful that we could do something to help and be of service to them. We always will be and AMO and the AMO Plans are here to provide all the support we can.
I would encourage any AMO member who has questions on any of this to get in touch. We are willing to discuss anything at any time. My contact information, along with Paul's and Danny's, is below.
David Weathers:
Cell phone: 409-996-7362
Paul Doell:
Cell phone: 954-881-5651
Daniel Robichaux:
Cell phone: 985-201-5462