El Faro owner hit with second lawsuit over tragedy

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The master of the 1975-built Tote Maritime-operated ro-ro and containership El Faro, which sank off the Bahamas during Hurricane Joaquin on October 1, taking the lives of all 33 crew, had reported that the ship had taken on water, was listing at 15 degrees and had lost propulsion, said the US National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday. As lawyers jockey to file multi-million dollar wrongful death lawsuits against Tote and the captain, the US media focus has been on why a 40-year-old ship was still on the water.