MV El Faro Sinking

The MV El Faro, a 735-foot cargo ship owned by TOTE, Inc., a New Jersey-based company, and operated by Sea Star Line, LLC, disappeared on October 1, 2015. At the time of its disappearance, the ship had 33 crew members on board, including 28 Americans. It is now known that the ship sank and the crew perished after navigating into Hurricane Joaquin off the coast of Crooked Island, Bahamas. The M/V El Faro departed Jacksonville, Florida, on September 29, 2015, en-route to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Prior to setting sail, the vessel’s operator was aware that Tropical Storm Joaquin posed a threat. Three hours prior to the El Faro’s ill-advised departure, the U.S. National Hurricane Center issued a warning about the likelihood of Joaquin becoming a full-blown hurricane. Despite knowing this, the MV El Faro‘s crew was ordered to sail on a path that would take it straight into Hurricane Joaquin. It is also believed that the M/V El Faro suffered a catastrophic mechanical problem that caused it to lose all propulsion, thus rendering the MVEl Faro disabled and at the mercy of the sea.

Search efforts by the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy have regrettably been unsuccessful in finding survivors.

Spagnoletti Law Firm is a team of maritime attorneys in Houston, Texas, with over 100 years of combined maritime experience, providing aggressive, results-oriented representation for families of deceased seamen and survivors of maritime disasters. Our attorneys have extensive experience in maritime wrongful death litigation and the skills needed to represent the families of loved ones lost at sea. The experienced lawyers of Spagnoletti Law Firm have successfully represented the families of vessel crew members lost at sea, and the seaman who have survived, including the loss of the MV Salvadore Allende, a 450-foot cargo vessel which sunk in the North Atlantic with a crew of 31, and most recently the family of a deceased seaman and the survivors of the MV Trinity II, a liftboat that collapsed in the Bay of Campeche during severe weather associated with Hurricane Nate. The lawyers of Spagnoletti Law Firm have successfully defeated shipowner’s attempts to limit liability, and have lawyers admitted to practice in Texas, Florida and New York. This shipowner can run, but they cannot hide.

Please contact Spagnoletti Law Firm to learn more about your rights and remedies if you lost loved ones aboard the MV El Faro.