By Barbara Liston

ORLANDO, Oct 29 (Reuters) – The U.S. cargo ship El Faro which skilled engine failure and sank in a hurricane within the Bahamas earlier this month had beforehand misplaced energy in open sea, in keeping with a brand new lawsuit in Florida claiming the ship was unseaworthy and the homeowners negligent.

The lawsuit, filed in Fort Lauderdale late Wednesday on behalf of the spouse and 5 kids of seaman Anthony Shawn Thomas, is not less than the fourth filed looking for compensation for a few of the 33 crew members misplaced at sea.

The ship’s proprietor, New Jersey-based Tote Inc, has blamed an unexplained lack of propulsion because the probably reason for the ship taking place on about Oct. 1 in excessive seas whipped up by Hurricane Joaquin.

The ship was present process engine room work in the course of the voyage which the corporate has mentioned was unrelated to the propulsion system.

A U.S. Navy salvage vessel is at present looking out the El Faro’s final recognized location to search out the wreckage and the voyage knowledge recorder, much like an airplane’s black field.

The new criticism cites a U.S. Coast Guard incident report from 2011 when the El Faro misplaced energy and propulsion in open water after a generator breaker tripped.

In that case, engineers discovered and repaired {an electrical} wire that had severed, and energy was restored, in keeping with the report.

The criticism additionally cites 23 deficiencies with the El Faro recorded since 2003 by the U.S. Coast Guard, all of which the studies present had been resolved. The deficiencies included such issues as a frozen valve, rags and particles in an engine room and a 74-day overdue drydock examination.

“We believe the defendants knew the El Faro was an aged and ailing vessel with structural problems and with a history of taking on water,” mentioned lead legal professional Kurt Arnold of Arnold & Itkin of Houston, which additionally represented victims of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil drilling catastrophe, in a ready assertion.

“The defendants knew, allowed, and encouraged the El Faro to leave port knowing the potential dangers that lay ahead of the hurricane,” he added.

A spokesman for Tote and associated associates, mentioned the corporate had no touch upon the lawsuit.

“Our focus remains on support and care for the families and their loved ones,” spokesman Michael Hanson mentioned in an emailed assertion. (Editing by David Adams and Andrew Hay)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015.

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