Into the Raging Sea
Thirty-Three Mariners, One Megastorm, and the Sinking of El Faro
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4.5 • 11 Ratings
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
A NATIONAL BESTSELLER
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK
AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
ONE OF JANET MASLIN’S MUST-READ BOOKS OF THE SUMMER
A NEW YORK TIMES EDITOR'S CHOICE
ONE OF OUTSIDE MAGAZINE’S BEST BOOKS OF THE SUMMER
ONE OF AMAZON'S BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE YEAR SO FAR
“A powerful and affecting story, beautifully handled by Slade, a journalist who clearly knows ships and the sea.”—Douglas Preston, New York Times Book Review
“A Perfect Storm for a new generation.”
—Ben Mezrich, bestselling author of The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook
On October 1, 2015, Hurricane Joaquin barreled into the Bermuda Triangle and swallowed the container ship El Faro whole, resulting in the worst American shipping disaster in thirty-five years. No one could fathom how a vessel equipped with satellite communications, a sophisticated navigation system, and cutting-edge weather forecasting could suddenly vanish—until now.
Relying on hundreds of exclusive interviews with family members and maritime experts, as well as the words of the crew members themselves—whose conversations were captured by the ship’s data recorder—journalist Rachel Slade unravels the mystery of the sinking of El Faro. As she recounts the final twenty-four hours onboard in this gripping survival story, Slade vividly depicts the officers’ anguish and fear as they struggled to carry out Captain Michael Davidson’s increasingly bizarre commands, which, they knew, would steer them straight into the eye of the storm. Taking a hard look at America's aging merchant marine fleet, Slade also reveals the truth about modern shipping—a cut-throat industry plagued by razor-thin profits and ever more violent hurricanes fueled by global warming.
A richly reported work of narrative nonfiction and a singular tragedy, Into the Raging Sea takes us into the heart of an age-old American industry, casting new light on the hardworking men and women who paid the ultimate price in the name of profit.
This unforgettable account of a modern disaster at sea reveals:
Anatomy of a Disaster: A minute-by-minute account of how the 790-foot container ship El Faro sailed directly into the eyewall of Hurricane Joaquin, a catastrophic category four storm.The Final Hours: Hear the crew’s own words, captured by the ship’s data recorder, as they confront the storm and Captain Michael Davidson’s fateful commands.Investigative Journalism: Based on hundreds of interviews, this book exposes the pressures facing America’s aging merchant marine fleet and the cut-throat shipping industry.A Maritime Tragedy: An unforgettable true story of the worst American shipping disaster in thirty-five years and the hardworking crew who paid the ultimate price.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This well-crafted and gripping account lays out the circumstances which led to the deaths of 33 crew members of the container ship El Faro when it sank east of the Bahamas in 2015 during a hurricane. Journalist Slade frames the tragedy with a meticulous review of all the ways in which it could have been avoided. Deregulation was a major factor, she concludes; El Faro was allowed to embark from Jacksonville, Fla., to Puerto Rico, despite numerous vulnerabilities, including outdated lifeboats and design flaws that left it prone to being flooded in bad weather. The push to minimize oversight was driven by shipping companies such as El Faro's owner, Tote, whose profits depended on making speedy delivery of goods. Capt. Michael Davidson, meanwhile, repeatedly ignored advice from his crew to take a route that would keep the vessel further away from the powerful storm, perhaps out of fear that his professional future hinged on an on-time delivery. Slade had access to 26 hours of audio on the ship's voyage data recorder, and she presents the actual conversations crew members had before the end, highlighting their stoicism. This is a painful and poignant narrative.
Customer Reviews
Too bad about the epilogue
A thrilling suspense, and avid well researched description of the lawlessness of the maritime industry. A great read.
Too bad about the ill informed, broad stroke comments about climate change. There are very few climate change deniers. More skeptics about the (lack of) morality of net zero; the inability of wind and solar to replace fossil fuels due to lack of density and portability; the lack of resources (copper, rare earth minerals) necessary to build enough infrastructure for net zero; May I respectfully suggest the author read Fossil Future by Alex Epstein? Author would learn that life expectancy has increased as a result of the industrial revolution; that deaths from natural disasters (all due respect to families related to El Faro) have nosedived as a result of fossil fuel advancing our ability to communicate information about, and weather storms.
The author spends the whole book blaming the shipping industry and TOTE and Davidson. Our weather predictive systems did not fail El Faro. The establishment did. Gratuitous comments about climate change at the epilogue dilute what is otherwise an excellent read. Shame.