By Barbara Liston

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb 26 (Reuters) – The U.S. investigation into the lethal sinking of the El Faro cargo ship throughout a hurricane final fall shifted route on Friday, because the Coast Guard wrapped up its preliminary public hearings on the accident that killed all 33 individuals onboard.

The company will now wait to see if key proof could be recovered from the shipwreck. In April, searchers will make a second try at discovering a voyage information recorder that might present element on the ship’s sinking off the Bahamas.

The recorder, just like an airplane’s black field, could maintain information on the final 12 hours of a voyage that noticed the worst cargo delivery catastrophe involving a U.S.-flagged vessel in additional than three many years.

The Coast Guard’s Marine Board of Investigation, convened just for essentially the most critical accidents, for the previous two weeks has heard testimony on occasions main as much as the catastrophe on Oct. 1.

The panel listened to the doomed captain’s recorded closing name for assist as his vessel took on water, and his warning that the “clock was ticking.”

Executives of Tote Services, which operated the El Faro, testified that they’d paid little or no consideration to the worsening storm or to communications from the captain on a weekly route between Florida and Puerto Rico.

Captain Michael Davidson, a veteran mariner from Maine, was solely accountable for all selections that resulted in catastrophe, Tote executives testified. Company leaders beforehand have blamed the accident on an unexplained lack of energy.

Jason Itkin, a Houston lawyer who’s suing Tote on behalf of 4 crew members’ households and has adopted the hearings, mentioned on Friday that their statements appeared tailor-made to restrict the corporate’s legal responsibility.

The Coast Guard plans a second spherical of hearings to give attention to larger element on the deadly journey. While no date is scheduled, the panel is predicted to reconvene by early summer time.

But if the recorder is discovered, the second part might be delayed whereas investigators totally analyze its contents, Coast Guard spokeswoman Alana Ingram mentioned.

A salvage staff didn’t find the recorder, which dislodged from the ship’s bridge, throughout a search final November.

Ultimately, the Coast Guard panel expects to situation a report and will make suggestions on points from ship requirements to motion on licenses of these concerned within the catastrophe.

Any legal exercise uncovered can be reported instantly to the U.S. Justice Department, Ingram mentioned. (Editing by Letitia Stein and Andrew Hay)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016.