Public Hearings into El Faro Sinking Continue Next Week

This undated image made from a video and released Tuesday, April 26, 2016, by the National Transportation Safety Board shows the stern of the sunken ship El Faro. The NTSB announced that the data recorder was located northeast of Acklins and Crooked Islands, Bahamas. El Faro, a 790-foot freighter, sank last October after getting caught in Hurricane Joaquin. The data recorder is capable of recording conversations and sounds on the El Faro's bridge, which may help investigators better understand the final moments of the ship's final journey. (National Transportation Safety Board via AP)

(National Transportation Safety Board via AP)

JACKSONVILLE, FL – The US Coast Guard will start its second round of public hearings on Monday for the Marine Board Investigation into the sinking of the cargo ship El Faro.

The vessel sank last fall during a hurricane on a trip from Jacksonville to Puerto Rico.

All 33 crew members died including Mass Maritime graduates Keith Griffin and Jeffrey Mathias.

The hearings will be held from Monday through May 27 in Jacksonville and will focus on shipboard operations, cargo loading, lashing and stowage operations, along with examining the ship’s forecasted stability and weather conditions forecasted and encountered.

A third round of hearing, which will be scheduled at a later date, will examine additional elements of the investigation including crew witnesses, TOTE company officials and contents of the El Faro’s Voyage Data Recorder if it can be recovered and analyzed.

The recorder was located on April 26 about 15,000 feet deep on a beam attached to a mast, but crews were unable to recover it.

Federal investigators say recovering the voyage data recorder from the sunken cargo ship El Faro will be a challenge.