”ILWU Local 23 took a moment at the beginning of the shift at TOTE Wednesday night to say farewell to the ship ‘El Faro’ that sank last week in the Bahamas, and to have a moment of silence for the 33 crew members who tragically lost their lives. The captain of the TOTE vessel behind us is taking the wreath we gave him up to Alaska to throw it in the water where that vessel spent most of her life bringing goods from Tacoma to Anchorage for 20 plus years.” — From ILWU Local 23
Our condolences go out to the families, friends and colleagues of the 33 crew members of El Faro
The El Faro cargo ship that has been missing since Hurricane Joaquin hit the Bahamas last week was expected to return to Tacoma this fall after serving as a lifeline to Puerto Rico for the last nine years.
The El Faro was going to relieve a Tacoma ship being sent out for liquefied natural-gas conversion this winter, said John Parrott, president of Federal Way-based TOTE Maritime Alaska, a subsidiary of TOTE Inc. The subsidiary TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico owns the El Faro vessel.
The El Faro, on a course from Jacksonville, Fla., to San Juan, Puerto Rico, has been missing since Oct. 1 as it sailed through the Bahamas at the height of the storm. It is still unclear how the missing ship will impact the TOTE Maritime Alaska operations, which offers twice-weekly cargo-ship service between the Port of Tacoma and the Port of Anchorage.