Captain of El Faro sister ship: Master had solid storm plan

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) – The captain of the sunken freighter El Faro’s sister vessel says he believes the master of the doomed ship had a “solid plan” to deal with a hurricane that had sprung up quickly.

Capt. Kevin Stith of the El Yunque testified Tuesday before a U.S. Coast Guard panel investigating the Oct. 1 sinking of the El Faro, which killed all 33 mariners aboard.

Stith was traveling from Puerto Rico to Jacksonville as the El Faro headed the opposite direction on the same run.

Stith says he and Capt. Michael Davidson emailed about Hurricane Joaquin, and that Davidson’s plan to go south of the storm “was well thought out.”

Previous testimony showed that Davidson received outdated storm information the day before the ship sank. Also, initial storm predictions were wildly inaccurate.