SS El Faro

No AIS position on record for this vessel. Identity and particulars are below.

Identity & particulars

Name

SS El Faro

IMO numberWhat is an IMO number?

7395351

MMSIWhat is an MMSI?

—

Call signWhat is a call sign?

—

Flag

—

Vessel type

ship

Gross tonnageGross tonnage vs deadweight

31,515

Length overall

241 m

Beam

28 m

Year built

1975

A tag next to a value names the register that supplied it (hover or tap it for the record and date). Values without a tag come from the ship's own AIS broadcasts or from Wikidata. Position and identity are derived live from AIS.

Timeline

Dated events for this ship from every source Voydar holds, newest first. Each line names its source; derived items say how they were derived.

Owner, operator and manager changes found by comparing yearly EU MRV reports are dated to the reporting year ("during 2025"), not to a day. Port calls here are the most recent only; the full lists are further down.

Former and other names

Names attested for this ship other than its current name.

A sanctions list's date is the earliest date the list shows the name, not when the ship took it. A name on a list is shown as a former name only where AIS shows the ship using another name after that date; otherwise it is listed as a name the list uses. AIS name changes are dated when Voydar saw them.

Incidents & investigations Authority-reported

Accident and incident reports by national investigation boards, and casualty warnings, that concern this ship. Each links to the original.

• Occurred Oct 1, 2015ACC · Cargo, GeneralNTSB marine investigations (CAROL)Atlantic Ocean by Crooked Island, Bahamas

  El Faro, Atlantic Ocean by Crooked Island, Bahamas (NTSB DCA16MM001)Report published Feb 7, 2018

  The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the sinking of El Faro and the subsequent loss of life was the captain’s insufficient action to avoid Hurricane Joaquin, his failure to use the most current weather information, and his late decision to muster the crew. Contributing to the sinking was ineffective bridge resource management on board El Faro, which includ

Port calls

Two kinds of evidence, kept apart: calls Voydar detected from the ship's AIS positions, and arrivals and departures published by port authorities and customs records.

About SS El Faro

SS El Faro was a United States-flagged, combination of roll-on/roll-off and lift-on/lift-off cargo ship crewed by U.S. merchant mariners. Built in 1975 by Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. as Puerto Rico, the vessel was renamed Northern Lights in 1991 and, finally, El Faro in 2006. She sank with her entire crew of 33 on October 1, 2015, after steaming into the eyewall of Hurricane Joaquin. El Faro departed Jacksonville, Florida, under the command of Captain Michael Davidson, bound for San Juan, Puerto Rico, at 8:10 p.m. EST on September 29, 2015, when then-Tropical Storm Joaquin was several hundred miles to the east. Two days later, after Joaquin had become a Category 4 hurricane, the vessel likely encountered swells of 20 to 40 ft (6 to 12 m) and winds over 80 kn (150 km/h; 92 mph) as she sailed near the storm's eye. Around 7:30 a.m.

Summary from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA.

Frequently asked questions

Where is SS El Faro now?

Voydar has no displayable AIS position for SS El Faro in this profile. A coverage gap does not establish whether the ship is transmitting or where it is now.

What kind of ship is SS El Faro?

SS El Faro is a ship, built in 1975 by Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company. The vessel is 241 m long with a beam of 28 m and has a gross tonnage of 31,515.

What sanctions and inspection records does Voydar hold for SS El Faro?

Voydar has no matched sanctions record displayed for SS El Faro from the OFAC SDN list, the UK Sanctions List, the Canadian autonomous sanctions list, the EU list of designated vessels, the New Zealand Russia Sanctions Register and the French national asset-freeze register. Coverage may be incomplete; this is not sanctions clearance. No matched inspection records are displayed for SS El Faro. Missing records do not establish whether the ship has been detained.