美国国家运输安全委员会调查货船沉没原因

AS IT IS 2015-10-08 Search for Answers in Sinking of US Cargo¹ Ship 美国国家运输安全委员会调查货船沉没原因

Federal investigators² have called off the search for a large cargo ship that may now lie at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

The El Faro had a crew of 28 Americans and five Poles. It was lost at sea during a hurricane near the Bahamas last week.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officially launched its investigation³ on Tuesday. The board will examine whether Captain Michael Davidson sailed the ship too close to the storm. Investigators will also try to determine if the ship lost power and was unable to move away from the hurricane.

Bella Dinh-Zarr is the vice-chairman of the NTSB. She said “we will be looking at everything. So, we (will) leave no stone unturned in our investigation and our analysis. We want to find every bit of information that we possibly can.”

Anthony Chiarello is the president of Tote Inc., which owns the 240-meter-long ship. He told reporters, “We don’t have all the answers, I’m sorry for that. I wish we did. But we will find out what happened.”

The ship was 41 years old. It was to transfer its routes from the Caribbean to the U.S. West Coast and Alaska in the coming months. Five workers from Poland were on the ship to ready it for service in Alaska. Company officials say they do not believe that work caused a loss of power.

The ship left Jacksonville, Florida on September 29. It was to sail to San Jose, Puerto Rico.

The company said the ship was modernized⁵ in 1992 and 2006. It did not have a history of engine problems. It was inspected by the U.S. Coast Guard in March and by the American Bureau of Shipping⁶ in February. The organization sets safety rules for ships. It inspected the ship’s hull⁷ and other areas. Tote said the inspection⁸ found no problems.

F. John Nicoll is a retired⁹ ship captain. He sailed ships between the U.S. and Puerto Rico for many years. He said he does not believe the age of the ship was one of the reasons it may have sunk. He says many older ships sail in U.S. waters without problems.

He says he believes federal investigators will ask the ship owners if they pressured the captain to sail near a dangerous storm. Mr. Nicoll said “time and money are…important” in shipping. He said he believes emails and other messages between the captain and the company will show if Mr. Davidson was pressured to sail in dangerous conditions.

The company says it did not pressure the captain to ignore the storm to deliver cargo on time.

The Coast Guard searched by sea and air for survivors¹⁰.

The ship is believed to have sunk in waters that are 15,000 feet deep. The El Faro last reported its location on Thursday morning. It said it was about 35 nautical¹¹ miles northeast of the Bahamas. The Coast Guard believes the ship sunk near its last reported location.

Messages from the ship said it had lost power and water had entered the ship. But, it said the situation was “manageable.”

Searchers have found one body, in a survival¹² suit. Officials have not identified it. There are reports that material from the ship has been found over a 225-square-mile area.

Federal investigators hope to find a data recorder from the ship. The device begins sending signals when it becomes wet. Its batteries can last for a month.

Tote said on its website that the ship carried two lifeboats and five life rafts. It said each lifeboat could hold 43 people and had food and water. The company said the five life rafts could hold 160 people. The company said the life rafts were made of fiberglass and would not sink even if they were full of people and water.

The company says it and the captain mapped a path that would have skirted the hurricane. But if the ship lost power, it would not be able to escape the hurricane’s 140-mile-per-hour winds and 50-foot-high waves.

Tote said Captain Davidson communicated regularly with company officials before the storm worsened. The company may force captains of its ships to change their decisions.

A man who had been a friend of the captain since childhood said Captain Davidson was a very good sailor. Nick Mavadones is the general manager of Casco Bay Lines, a passenger and cargo boat company in Portland, Maine.

Angel Ortiz worked on ships sailing the waters of the Caribbean for 39 years. He said the weather in the area can be very dangerous. He said “it can go from calm, in a matter of five or six hours, to hell.”

Words in This Story

leave no stone unturned – expression (figurative) to search in all possible places

modernize⁴ – v. to make (something) modern and more suited to present styles or needs

hull – n. the main part of a ship or boat; the deck, sides and bottom of a ship or boat

skirt – v. to avoid (something) especially because it is difficult or will cause problems

1 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

2 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

4 modernize   

vt.使现代化，使适应现代的需要

参考例句：

• It was their manifest failure to modernize the country's industries.他们使国家进行工业现代化，明显失败了。
• There is a pressing need to modernise our electoral system.我们的选举制度迫切需要现代化。

5 modernized   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的过去式和过去分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• By 1985 the entire railway network will have been modernized. 等到1985年整个铁路网就实现现代化了。
• He set about rebuilding France, and made it into a brilliant-looking modernized imperialism. 他试图重建法国，使它成为一项表面华丽的现代化帝业。

6 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

7 hull   

n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳

参考例句：

• The outer surface of ship's hull is very hard.船体的外表面非常坚硬。
• The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。

8 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

9 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

10 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

11 nautical   

adj.海上的，航海的，船员的

参考例句：

• A nautical mile is 1,852 meters.一海里等于1852米。
• It is 206 nautical miles from our present location.距离我们现在的位置有206海里。

12 survival   

n.留住生命，生存，残存，幸存者

参考例句：

• The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子，说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
• The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。