Run the Storm: A Savage Hurricane, a Brave Crew, and the Wreck of the SS El Faro

Michelsen Foy tells the story of the sinking of the SS El Faro, a modern cargo ship that ran between Jacksonville, FL, and Puerto Rico. The sinking happened during Hurricane Joaquin, a Category four storm, on October 1, 2015, leaving no survivors out of a crew of 33. The incident rocked the U.S. maritime industry and is considered one of the worst merchant marine shipping disasters since World War II. Using inquest hearings from the Coast Guard, personal interviews, and the recordings from the ship's "black box," the author, a former commercial fisherman, shows how the tiniest of instances can cause a chain reaction. Minutely following the ship and its' crew from the time of cargo loading to the actual capsizing and sinking, he reveals the many factors that improbably came together to facilitate the tragedy, including incorrect forecasting to the captain's decisions to the science of steam and oil pumps and stress fatigue on the ship itself.