Families of ten victims within the tragic sinking of the El Faro have reached a settlement with the ship’s proprietor over the catastrophe.

The 10 households have agreed to $500,000 every to settle claims towards the El Faro’s proprietor Tote Maritime Puerto Rico.

The 40-year-old American cargo sank after crusing into the trail of Hurricane Joaquin in October 2015 throughout a routine voyage from Jacksonville to San Juan, Puerto Rico. All 33 crew members, together with 28 Americans and 5 Polish contractors, died within the catastrophe.

According to media stories, the settlement covers the households of Captain Michael Davidson, the Chief Engineer, the first Assistant Engineer, the Bosun, and the 5 Polish contractors.

Cases by households of different crew members stay open.

A press release from Tote Maritime mentioned:

Since the lack of the El Faro, we’ve got centered each effort on supporting the households of these on board. An necessary a part of this help has entailed reaching honest and swift authorized settlements for many who might select them. We can verify that we’ve got settled financially with 10 households by way of a respectful and equitable mediation course of. We stress that our help of all of the households will proceed. Out of respect for the authorized course of and the privateness of the households, we won’t focus on the specifics of any particular person authorized actions.

The settlement come because the NTSB continues its investigation into the sinking. Earlier this month, the NTSB launched the primary photos of the El Faro wreck after finding the ship in 15,000 ft of water off Crooked Island within the Bahamas close to the vessel’s final recognized place. A survey of the wreck confirmed the navigation bridge had been shorn off the vessel, a testomony to the intense forces the ship was topic to when it sank.

Separately, the U.S. Coast Guard introduced Tuesday that it has set the primary Marine Board of Investigation listening to into the catastrophe. The listening to, which will probably be open to the general public, will deal with the pre-accident occasions regarding the loss, the regulatory compliance document of the ship, crewmember duties and {qualifications}, previous operations of the vessel and the Coast Guard’s Search and Rescue operations.