By Donald Frost

SS EL FARO’s age (39 years) has risen as a explanation for its loss: But the difficulty, to my thoughts, will not be age however inspection and upkeep.

The dialogue of age in reference to marine accidents is an unlucky gross over-simplification, one which mis-leads the overall observer masking because it does the quite a few components much more vital to a vessels structural integrity. Not the least it ignores, within the United States particularly, an enormously rigorous security regime that begins with the US Government within the type of the US Coast Guard, maybe the best security group on the earth.

Next there are the Classification Societies, these technical engineering organizations, corresponding to American Bureau of Shipping, which did the bodily inspections and certification of the El Faro. These steadily “Not for Profit” organizations are charged with the bodily inspection of every vessel and the issuance of security certificates, with out which a vessel might not sail.

Each vessel is the product of a small military of contractors whose gear, engineering work and reputations are continuously on the road as they constantly monitor, preserve and improve their merchandise. And definitely not least is the company tradition within the US which is second to none, and which should meet the calls for of an environmental safety and security pushed regulatory regime.

All of those forces are continuously targeted on sustaining the integrity of a vessel’s structural security.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the European Commission, within the wake of the lack of the M/T ERIKA in 1999 and the M/T LEVOLI Sun in 2000, did in depth investigations into the difficulty of age. It was established {that a} ship’s age is impartial of its security. The solely criterion is how every ship is maintained over its life.

In the United States there may be knowledge supporting the findings in Europe. Some examples:

• The common of the US Jones Act fleet over 10,000 dwt, of which EL FARO was half, is 30 years. If tankers are excluded the common age of the dry cargo fleet is larger. At the tip of 2015 it was 33+ years.
• The common age of the college ships run by the state maritime schools is 37 years. The oldest is over 50 years.
• The common age of the Maritime Administration’s Ready Reserve fleet is 41 years.
• The common age of the United States Coast Guard’s High Endurance (deep sea) cutters is 42 years.
• The common age of the US Great Lakes cargo fleet is 46 years
• The common age of the US Navy’s fee ships is 20 years. If tankers and fight logistics ships are omitted the age of the ahead deployed cargo fleet is nicely over 25 years.

Yet the United States enjoys one of many most secure maritime data on the earth.

We should not enable ourselves to observe the straightforward route within the present case of the El Faro and simply say age was the trigger, as a result of that does an unlimited disservice to these great mariners misplaced when she went down. It ignores the large oversight of the US Coast Guard. It belittles the technical experience of the American Bureau of Shipping. And it could imply that each American seafarer, Navy sailors, Coast Guard ladies and men, and the valuable subsequent era of expert, courageous and proficient cadets that have their college ship expertise is in danger.

We know they don’t seem to be!