Union Members Hold Memorial For 33 Victims of Sunken Ship

PHOTO COUTESY : MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME ACADEMY
Photo of Keith Griffin, 33, a 2005 graduate of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s labor unions are honoring the 33 merchant seamen killed when the El Faro cargo ship sunk in October.

The Florida Times-Union reports that friends and family of the dead sailors and members of the numerous labor unions gathered in Jacksonville on Saturday for a memorial.

Massachusetts Maritime Academy graduates Keith Griffin, 33, and Jeffrey Mathias, 44, were among the crew.

Griffin was a native of Winthrop and graduated from the Academy in 2005. Mathias was from Kingston and graduated in 1996.

The event included tributes from family members of those killed when El Faro went down during Hurricane Joaquin off the Bahamas on Oct. 1.

It also included proclamations of support for the families from state, local and federal officials.