NTSB adds documents to El Faro investigation docket

The National Transportation Safety Board has added two additional reports that clarify the original voyage data recorder (VDR) transcript from 2016 and says it has up to four more additions for the docket by the end of the year.    The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has filed additional material to the accident docket of the 2015 sinking of the cargo ship El Faro.
   The NTSB originally expected to issue its final report within 18 months, but the nearly two-year investigation into the sinking of the vessel during Hurricane Jaoquin has been delayed in part due to missing and jumbled information.
   Two items related to the voyage data recorder (VDR) transcript, an addendum and an errata sheet, were added to the board’s investigation docket Wednesday. The four-page addendum provides additional information not included in the previously released VDR transcript. 
   The El Faro’s VDR was initially analyzed and transcribed in the fall of 2016 by NTSB investigators working with representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard and Tote Services, the owner and operator of the El Faro. However, the December 2016 release of the VDR transcript had a “poor” quality of the audio recording, even with extensive digital filtering – not every word or phrase could be determined in the initial analysis, according to NTSB.
   Due to the quality of the transcript, NTSB continued to analyze information and had additional listening sessions of the VDR. These sessions resulted in some additional dialogue being transcribed because the information was determined to be relevant to the investigation, said NTSB. 
   The five-page errata sheet added to the VDR transcript is a list of grammar, usage and terminology edits to the previously released transcript to enhance accuracy.  
   In addition to these two add-ons, NTSB has scheduled the human performance factual report and the wreckage trajectory study to be added to the docket Aug. 18.
   “The Human Performance Group Factual Report includes information about company oversight, decision-making, crew interactions, and training and procedures,” while “the Wreckage Trajectory Study includes information about the calculations done to determine the search areas on the sea floor, which was critical to the successful recovery of the El Faro VDR,” said NTSB.
   Two more factual reports will be added in the coming weeks, including the Nautical Operations Group Factual Report, which includes information about the function and maintenance of bridge equipment, job duties of deck officers and crew, and how the different types of cargo were stowed and secured; and the Naval Architecture Factual Report, which includes information on El Faro’s design, relevant standards, and stability, said the NTSB.
   The NTSB said that while most of the relevant documents have been submitted to the docket, additional documents may be added to it as the investigation continues.