All language subtitles for NOVA.S49E08.Why.Ships.Crash.1080p.WEB.h264-BAE_track3_[eng]

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
March 23, 2021.

The Ever Given,

one of the largest
container ships

ever built...

(loud thudding)

...plows into the bank
of the Suez Canal.

The only thing that ran through
my mind was, "Oh, my God."

JULIANNE CONA:
I posted the picture,

and my sister's like,
"It's all over the news."

NARRATOR:
It completely blocks

one of the most
important shipping lanes

in the world for nearly a week,

triggering a global emergency.

No one had had a vessel
the size of Ever Given

run aground in the way
Ever Given did.

NARRATOR:
Now, eye witnesses speak out
for the first time.

CONA:
It was life-changing,
I think it changed

the perspective of a lot
of people on board.

NARRATOR:
And using clues from former
maritime disasters...

ROD SULLIVAN:
He stayed there

to the very last minute

to try to save the
life of this one seaman.

NARRATOR:
New documents,

expert analysis,

and never-before-seen footage...

ERNEST CAPONEGRO:
We thought the ship was
going to collide with us.

I ordered everybody
off the stern.

NARRATOR:
We investigate what
really happened.

You're dealing with a
machine, really, that is

one of the largest machines
ever created by man.

NARRATOR:
Was this a freak accident?

And how can we
stop a disaster like this

from ever happening again?

SULLIVAN:
The Ever Given was
a wakeup call to everybody.

And if those ships don't arrive,

you can shut down an economy.

If you didn't get the message
from the Ever Given,

you weren't paying attention.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Right now, on "NOVA"...

"Why Ships Crash."

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The Suez Canal...

a 120-mile artery that runs
through the heart of Egypt,

linking the Red Sea
to the Mediterranean.

A shortcut that saves
ships thousands of miles,

and several weeks of sea time.

(translated):
We have 18,000 ships

pass through each year.

We are the most important
maritime route in the world.

NARRATOR:
Hundreds of thousands
of containers

loaded with critical supplies:

fuel, food, and
medical equipment

depend on this
man-made waterway,

a narrow strip of water
stretching improbably

through Egypt's Eastern Desert.

♪ ♪

(water crashing)

10:15 a.m. local time,

March 9, 2021.

The container ship
Ever Given sets sail from

the south coast of China,
loaded with more than

700 million dollars' worth
of cargo and consumer goods.

Operated by the Evergreen
Marine shipping company,

it's nearly as long as the
Empire State Building is tall,

and capable of carrying
20,000 containers,

one of the biggest container
ships in the world.

It's scheduled to
spend the next 23 days

sailing halfway around the world

to deliver its cargo
to ports in Europe.

To get there,

it must pass through
the series of lakes

and narrow channels that
make up the Suez Canal.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

The Ever Given arrives
at the Southern mouth

of the Suez at 6:00 p.m.
on the 22nd of March.

(indistinct chatter)

Captain Reda Ahmed oversees
this section of the Canal.

(translated):
I was working as the head

of sea traffic in Port Tawfik.

NARRATOR:
Reda is a veteran mariner

who has worked with the Suez
Canal Authority for 26 years.

♪ ♪

He manages a team of
local maritime pilots,

expert sailors who board

every vessel to help guide
it through the canal.

In the south,
the waterway is too narrow

for big ships to
pass each other,

so Reda organizes the
vessels heading north

into one-way convoys
sailing single file.

(translated):
The speed of the ships
at the front of the convoy

is different to the
speed of the ships

at the back of the convoy.

CONA:
It's slow moving,
it's a very long day.

It's the last major obstacle

before you're going back across
the Atlantic, headed...

headed home.

NARRATOR:
Julianne Cona is
on the ship directly

behind the Ever Given,
the Maersk Denver.

With eight years' experience,

Julianne has sailed the
Suez a dozen times before,

working as an engineer
in the ship's engine room.

Being aboard these vessels,

it can be challenging at times.

Things constantly are changing,

but you kind of learn
to roll with it.

NARRATOR:
For the biggest ships,
navigating the Suez

is a serious challenge.

CONA:
You've got land on
both sides of you,

you've got a ship in front
of you and a ship behind you,

and the slightest misstep
on anybody's part

could end in a
maritime accident.

NARRATOR:
At 7:00 a.m.,
the Ever Given sets course

from the Gulf of Suez
to the canal entrance,

as part of a convoy of 20 ships.

The Maersk Denver
is just ten minutes behind.

CAPONEGRO:
I got on watch at
midnight and from then on,

it was calm, calm, and then
the wind started coming.

NARRATOR:
Ernie Caponegro has been a
licensed officer for six years,

sailing cargo ships
all over the world.

CAPONEGRO:
Wind picked up suddenly from

a light breeze
to around 20 knots,

and it just continued
on up from there.

NARRATOR:
By the time the Ever Given
enters the canal,

the wind is gusting
at gale force.

That's when it started to
become a little more concerning.

NARRATOR:
It may seem like a ship
as massive as the Ever Given

would be unaffected by wind,

but its tall sides
can act like a sail,

pushing it sideways
and making it difficult

to maintain its position.

♪ ♪

When you have a vessel that's
equal to a 15-story building

above the waterline,

and as long as nearly
four football pitches,

this is a vessel that, if it is
blowing and gusting wind,

she is going to move around.

That vessel needed to be
dead center in the canal.

There's very little room
for margin of error.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Satellite tracking data shows

that the northbound convoy
makes steady progress.

But the data also
reveals something

is wrong with the Ever Given.

♪ ♪

At 7:18 a.m., the ship is off
the center line,

too close to the west bank.

Then, 16 minutes later,

it runs dangerously
close to the east bank.

At 7:38, it finally
loses control.

On the bridge, the crew shout,

"We might be grounding...
Stand by."

♪ ♪

The bow of the 219,000-ton
ship...

(loud thudding)

...crashes into the east
bank of the Suez Canal.

With the bow of the
Ever Given aground,

and all steering control lost,

the wind and current
now pushes the stern

right across the canal,
until it wedges

into the other bank.

The Ever Given is firmly lodged,

blocking the entire Suez Canal.

♪ ♪

What caused the
accident is a mystery.

♪ ♪

On the Maersk Denver,

Ernie and the rest of the crew
can't believe their eyes.

♪ ♪

The only thing that ran through
my mind was, "Oh, my God."

CONA:
Oh crap, I guess

I'm not going home.
(laughs)

NARRATOR:
Ernie and Julianne are now

steaming directly
towards the Ever Given.

CAPONEGRO:
My vessel was weighing
110,000 gross tons.

Stopping that with
35 to 40 knots of wind,

plus a two knot
following current,

not exactly an easy feat.

NARRATOR:
The captain of the Maersk Denver

reacts fast and throws
the engines in reverse.

CONA:
It was the first time
in my career I'd ever seen

a complete full astern bell.
(bell chiming)

It's not very often
that you're going

as fast as you can backwards.

♪ ♪

The ship stops just
a few hundred feet before

it plows into the Ever Given.

♪ ♪

But the ship directly
behind them,

the Asia Ruby III,
is in serious trouble.

♪ ♪

Something in the back of my head
said, "Turn around and look."

And when I turned around,
the Asia Ruby III was maybe

a football field away.

NARRATOR:
This phone footage shows

the nearly 70,000-ton ship

heading right towards
the Maersk Denver.

CAPONEGRO:
We thought the ship was
going to collide with us.

I ordered everybody
off the stern.

NARRATOR:
The Denver's captain
quickly guns the throttle.

♪ ♪

Their ship slowly
moves forwards,

away from the Ruby.

They narrowly avoid
a catastrophic pile up.

CAPONEGRO:
If the ship behind
us had hit us,

they could have very
easily just disabled us,

sending the ship barreling
towards the Ever Given.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Once safely anchored,
the crew can fully grasp

the scale of the accident.

CONA:
I called my family

and my sister's, like,
"It's all over the news."

GERMAN NEWS ANCHOR (translated):
More and more ships are waiting.

Some captains are even

considering taking the 6,000
kilometer detour around Africa.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The shockwaves
from this accident

are felt across the globe.

About 12% of world trade

passes through the Suez Canal.

Even a short blockage
results in delivery delays

of crucial food, fuel,
and medical supplies.

♪ ♪

The 58 ships queuing up unable
to pass through the canal

all feel the consequences

of this ballooning
maritime disaster.

♪ ♪

The Ever Given accident made
headlines around the world.

But there are many
more that don't.

Each year, there are
over 2,500 crashes

and shipping incidents.

They damage infrastructure,

and cause delays,

destroying ships,

and putting lives at risk.

MERCOGLIANO:
The way world
shipping works today is

through a system known
as just-in-time logistics.

What happens is most factories,
most warehouses,

don't have enough supplies
to last more than a few days.

It requires the daily infusion

of new cargo and new
supplies coming in.

Most of the time, the public
are blissfully unaware

of how their goods
get to their shops,

or how components
get to factories.

NARRATOR:
Today, the transportation
of almost all physical goods,

from durable items
like furniture, clothes,

and computer chips,
to perishable goods

like vegetables,
meat, and medicines,

revolves entirely around
a single, extraordinary

piece of technology...

The shipping container.

♪ ♪

MERCOGLIANO:
Prior to the introduction
of containerization,

cargo was moved in what's
referred to as "break bulk."

Basically, you moved
individual pieces

of cargo... boxes, cartons,

pallets, bales, one at a time.

NARRATOR:
This process of moving cargo
was labor intensive,

and time consuming.

Teams of dock workers would
take several days to load

and unload even
a medium-sized ship.

♪ ♪

In 1956, American truck
hauler Malcolm McLean

unveiled a time-saving solution.

♪ ♪

What is now called the
intermodal shipping container,

a strong lockable steel box,

specially toughened to withstand
the rigors of life at sea.

♪ ♪

It evolved through the '60s,

and now containers
all across the world

come in standard sizes,

with standardized
attachment points.

♪ ♪

This makes it much
faster and cheaper

to shuttle goods
from truck and train

to ship, and back again.

♪ ♪

Today, container ships transport

around two billion tons
of goods a year.

Their success changed the
way we ship goods forever.

The larger a ship,

the more efficiently
it carries containers.

So container
ships grew bigger...

and bigger.

Since the 1950s,

they've tripled in length.

The latest ships,

known as Ultra-Large,

are as long as
four football fields.

They're pushing
at the boundaries

of what's possible in terms
of where the ships can go

and how safe is it to transport

things around the world
on these megaships.

As ships get bigger,

the margin for
error gets smaller.

NARRATOR:
The Ever Given is one of

the biggest container
ships in the world.

Its fate now hangs
in the balance.

♪ ♪

At the canal control center,

Captain Reda makes sure
the other ships stuck

in the convoy are
safely anchored,

and then heads straight
to the crash site.

(translated):
This was the first time in my
life that I saw a ship

of this size stranded.

NARRATOR:
He and his colleagues
at the Canal Authority

will work to devise
a salvage operation

to unblock the waterway fast.

There are dozens of ships
stacking up behind,

with vital supplies on board.

The pressures to
free the Ever Given

and unblock the canal
are immense.

♪ ♪

But the front of the ship
is buried nearly

40 feet in the eastern bank,

and the stern
is stuck fast, too.

♪ ♪

The team dispatch as many
tug boats, dredgers,

and excavators as they can
lay their hands on.

Several tugs, some pushing,

others pulling,
try to free the ship.

But it simply won't budge.

♪ ♪

No one had had a vessel
the size of Ever Given

run aground in the
way Ever Given did.

NARRATOR:
The ship's bow has
plowed into the bank

of the canal with such force,

that it is completely embedded.

The excavators look like toys
alongside the vast hull.

36 hours after the crash,
excavators and dredging ships

are still racing to scoop and
suck sand away from the bow.

The operation
is extremely risky.

If the Ever Given moves
suddenly, its vast bulk

could crush anyone
working nearby.

After three days of non-stop
digging and dredging,

the Ever Given remains stuck.

World shipping faces
an escalating crisis.

(birds squawking)

CONA:
Now you have this
backup of 20, 40,

60, 80, and before you knew it,

hundreds of ships
sitting there waiting.

NARRATOR:
Every day the canal is blocked,

nearly $10 billion worth

of vital medical supplies, food,
and other goods are on hold.

♪ ♪

Even a short delay creates
a huge global problem.

When you create a disruption
such as the shutdown

of the Suez Canal,
that creates a backlog.

All of a sudden
that smooth supply

has a big kink right
in the middle of it.

The problem is,
the kink resonates

down the entire supply chain.

♪ ♪

Today, the container
revolution means that ships

carry up to 90% of all
global trade goods.

Every day, nearly a thousand
vessels must pass through

a handful of crucial
shipping arteries,

including the Panama Canal
in Central America,

the Strait of Malacca in Asia,

the Straits of Gibraltar,

the English Channel,

and the Suez Canal.

♪ ♪

Here, closure can mean delay,
or a major diversion,

adding at least ten days

and thousands of miles
to a ship's route.

CONA:
A lot of ships had
decided to go down around

the Horn of Africa, just because

they'd be so far
back in the line.

NARRATOR:
This blockage will affect many
thousands of small and large

businesses waiting for goods
on the backed-up ships.

♪ ♪

The Ever Given was meant
to unload its cargo

in Rotterdam in the Netherlands,

and Felixstowe
in the United Kingdom.

From there, the cargo
would be transported to

dozens of discharge ports,
and on to destinations

across mainland
Europe and Scandinavia.

♪ ♪

But the ripple effects
of the backlog of hundreds

of ships have a
truly global impact.

♪ ♪

The consequences of
the blockage are felt from

ports in the U.S.
to the docks of Africa.

Four days after
the Ever Given crashes,

satellite data shows
hundreds of ships backed up,

some in the Gulf of Suez...

and others in the Mediterranean
at the north end of the canal.

♪ ♪

CONA:
The cluster of ships
sitting there

was crazy to watch.

Hundreds of ships just
anchored up around you.

You couldn't look in front
of you and not see a ship.

NARRATOR:
With the world
watching every move,

the Canal Authority
is under huge pressure

to free the Ever Given, fast.

They bring in an
international team of

salvage experts
with more equipment.

Together, they devise
a new strategy.

Small tugs will line up

to push near the stern
of the Ever Given.

Two larger tugs
will use tow lines

to pull the stern away
from the west bank.

Other large tugs

will try to pull the bow
away from the east bank.

But if they're not careful,
there's a real risk

that the ship could
jerk free too quickly

and smash into the other
side of the canal.

(ship rumbling)

(loud thud)

This operation takes advantage
of an unusually high tide

produced when the moon is full,

and at its closest to the earth.

They begin just after midnight
on the 29th of March.

This is when the
spring tide flows south.

It should help push the Ever
Given's stern off the bank.

♪ ♪

At first, it doesn't seem
like their plan is working.

Everything hinges on them
freeing the ship tonight.

(ship horn blares)

(different horn blaring)

♪ ♪

In the early hours
of the morning,

the stern of the ship slowly
inches away from the bank.

(horn blaring)

♪ ♪

That afternoon,
at the next high tide,

the tugs manage to slowly
pull the bow clear, too.

♪ ♪

After six days of digging,
pushing, and pulling,

the ship is free at last.

(Reda speaking)

(translated):
The crew and I were so

full of joy when
the ship was floated

that we didn't
notice all the tugs

surrounding us in celebration.

(people whistling)

Everybody just...
huge sigh of relief.

CONA:
It almost felt like you
could breathe again.

Like, okay, we're going home.

RABIE (translated):
In the world
of salvage operations,

it is a miracle for it
to have succeeded

in such a short time,
and for such a big ship.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The salvage operation is
a triumph of cooperation

and ingenious engineering.

But the crash has disrupted
billions of dollars

of world trade in the
midst of a global pandemic,

when supply lines are
already stretched.

(ship horn blares)

Investigators urgently need
to find out what went wrong.

♪ ♪

But uncovering why
the Ever Given crashed

won't be straightforward.

MERCOGLIANO:
Ever Given herself was operated

for Evergreen Marine,
a company out of Taiwan.

The owner of the
vessel was in Japan.

The insurer for the cargo
was in the United Kingdom.

The crew was Indian,
the registry was Panamanian,

and investigating
an accident like this,

you would see nearly all
those elements involved

conducting simultaneous,
in some cases, investigations,

along with the Egyptian
Suez Canal Authority.

NARRATOR:
The key question
investigators have to answer

is why the ship lost control,

veering so wildly from
one bank to the other.

Early reports
mention one thing...

The weather.

CONA:
It was exceptionally windy,

and usually in windy situations,

they evaluate the bigger ships
going in and not going in.

NARRATOR:
Most ultra-large cargo ships

have powerful engines and
are surprisingly maneuverable,

but strong winds can
still pose problems.

To understand the
danger wind presents,

it's helpful to look
at other incidents

where ships ran into
unexpected difficulties at sea.

♪ ♪

On January 26, 2016,

the Modern Express cargo ship,

carrying a 3,600-ton load
of heavy machinery and logs,

was approaching
the Bay of Biscay,

on route to Le Havre, France.

In Finisterre,
on the north coast of Spain,

coast guard
Manuel Capeáns Álvarez

was due to start his shift.

(translated):
The wind and rain were
battering heavily.

On the days of adverse
weather conditions,

you always fear that something
serious could happen.

NARRATOR:
As the Modern Express
crossed the Bay of Biscay,

strong winds forced
the ship off course.

The gale caught the high
side of the ship like a sail.

The vessel developed
a dangerous 40-degree list.

At 1:16 p.m.,

the captain sent
a distress call.

(Álvarez speaking Spanish)

(translated):
The crew requested
to abandon the ship.

Two rescue helicopters and
a rescue plane were deployed.

NARRATOR:
The 22 crew members were

clinging to the
steeply sloping deck,

battered by more than
16-foot-high waves.

They feared the ship could
capsize at any moment.

(waves roaring)

The wildly pitching deck

made the helicopter rescue
incredibly dangerous.

RESCUER (speaking Spanish):

RESCUERS (speaking Spanish):

NARRATOR:
It took around four hours

to haul all crew members
to safety one by one.

♪ ♪

No one knows exactly
what caused the accident.

But the high sides of
the ship and strong winds

were almost
certainly key factors.

CAPONEGRO:
Weather plays with
ships all the time.

Doesn't matter whether you're
going through the Suez Canal,

or you're crossing the Atlantic,
it's going to play with it.

NARRATOR:
So how did the strong winds
affect the Ever Given?

Francesco Morelli
is a marine surveyor

who has conducted
dozens of investigations

into major shipping accidents,
including in the Suez Canal.

He's analyzed the data
from the Ever Given crash.

(Morelli speaking Italian)

MORELLI (translated):
The first time I heard about
the Ever Given,

what I read wasn't convincing.

So I decided to use
the same technology that

we usually use to understand
what happened exactly.

NARRATOR:
All big ships like the
Ever Given are equipped with

an Automatic Identification
System, or A.I.S.

This uses satellite data
and the ship's radio

to broadcast the vessel's
precise location,

heading, and speed
every few seconds.

MORELLI (translated):
The availability of this data
has made it possible

to reconstruct this scenario
in great detail.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Weather models of the day
of the Suez incident

show that a 30 to 40 knot wind

blasted the Ever Given
as it entered the canal.

(speaking Italian)

(translated):
The ship was hit by the wind

on its right side.

This caused the ship to be
pushed towards the left bank

and away from the
center line of the channel.

NARRATOR:
For Francesco,
even though the ship

didn't hit the bank this time,

it never really recovered
the center line.

♪ ♪

But he's convinced that wind

isn't the only factor
that caused the crash.

He discovers that the ship
ahead of the Ever Given,

the Cosco Galaxy, which was
almost exactly the same size,

forged a smooth passage
through the waterway,

despite having to battle
the same windy conditions.

♪ ♪

Why did one ship sail
through the canal safely,

and the other crash?

♪ ♪

Francesco overlays
the tracking data

of the Ever Given
and the Cosco Galaxy.

The resulting image

lays bare the different paths
of the two ships.

As they entered the canal,

the wind pushed both ships
towards the left bank.

The Ever Given veered
particularly close.

Both ships then slightly
increased their speed

as they approached a bend.

This would have made
them more maneuverable...

the more water that rushes
past a ship's rudder,

the faster it turns.

But halfway through the bend,
the Galaxy slowed back down,

while the Ever Given sped up.

(Morelli speaking Italian)

MORELLI (translated):
The difference between the two

is that they went through
the curve of the canal

at different speeds.

The Cosco Galaxy kept a
moderate and constant speed.

The Ever Given increased its
speed up to nearly 14 knots.

NARRATOR:
In strong winds,

big ships are often
easier to control

the faster they go.

But within the
confines of the canal,

high speeds can cause problems.

(Morelli speaking Italian)

MORELLI (translated):
When a ship like the Ever Given
nears the side of the canal,

hydrodynamic effects suck the
ship towards the nearest bank.

This is called "bank effect,"

and the bigger the speed,
the bigger the bank effect.

(water rushing)

NARRATOR:
As the Ever Given
moved through the canal,

its vast bulk displaced

hundreds of thousands
of tons of water.

This rushed past the hull,

and formed a bow wave
at the front.

Francesco believes
that as the ship

got close to the bank,

the bow wave formed a cushion

that pushed the bow away.

But further back,
as the gap between

ship and bank narrowed,
the water flowed faster.

When a fluid speeds up,
pressure in the fluid drops,

which in this case
created suction

that pulled the stern
towards the bank.

Just a small increase
in speed leads to

a big increase in this
so-called bank effect.

Francesco's analysis suggests
that the Ever Given's high speed

caused it to lurch
from experiencing

bank effect on one
side of the canal,

to bank effect on the other,
and eventually to crash.

(loud thudding)

(Morelli speaking Italian)

(translated):
The behavior of the
ship is similar to

a ball bouncing back and forth
from one bank to the other.

The speed of the ship increases,
and the bank effect

becomes stronger.

This is what causes
the ship to crash.

NARRATOR:
So why did the
Ever Given speed up?

Faced with high winds,
could the captain

have simply made the wrong call,

gone too fast and
lost control of his vessel?

How do crucial
decisions like this

get made on the
bridge of a ship?

Clues lie in another
tragic maritime disaster.

♪ ♪

On September 30, 2015,

the cargo ship El Faro,

carrying 391 containers,

over 100 cars,
and 33 crew members

was sailing 80 miles
from Florida

en route to Puerto Rico.

The ship was on a
regular route between

Jacksonville, Florida,
and San Juan, Puerto Rico,

and it made that
trip back and forth

week after week after week.

NARRATOR:
Rod Sullivan is
a maritime expert

and was the lawyer
who represented one

of the families
of the crew on board.

In Jacksonville when they left,

and as they went down the
east coast of the United States,

the weather was beautiful.

There was a light hurricane,

Joaquin, force one or force two,

out somewhere in the Caribbean.

But at the very time
they left, they had no idea

that they were going to be
sailing directly into it.

NARRATOR:
Hurricane Joaquin strengthened,

turning into a
category four storm

with 135 mile-per-hour winds

and mountainous seas.

The winds are getting stronger,
the waves are getting stronger,

and the ship is becoming
less and less controllable.

NARRATOR:
The captain of the El Faro,
Michael Davidson,

could have changed course,
and taken a longer route

that avoided the worst
of the weather.

But in the face
of the gathering storm,

the El Faro did the unthinkable.

It sailed straight into
the heart of the hurricane.

SULLIVAN:
You're looking at

120 mile per hour winds,

which are, are extreme winds.

And you're also
looking at high seas,

which are going to batter the
ship on one side or the other.

It's going to make it very
difficult to control the ship.

(waves crashing)

NARRATOR:
At 7:12 a.m., the captain sent

an emergency message.

Then, silence.

SULLIVAN:
They sent out fixed wing
aircraft looking for

the location of the sinking.

They sent out vessels
and helicopters to attempt

to see if there were
any people, any survivors,

and no survivors were found.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
An extensive search
of the seabed

uncovered the
wreckage of the ship.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
And crucially,
its voyage data recorder,

the equivalent of
a plane's black box.

It held records of the
ship's exact location,

and audio recordings
of all conversations

on the bridge in the hours
leading up to the disaster.

SULLIVAN:
The last moments
of this ship are really

heart-rending, because all
the crew members have gotten

onto the railing and are
trying to get off the ship.

But there are two people
left in the wheelhouse.

There's Captain Davidson,
and there's one seaman.

♪ ♪

And as the ship lists farther
and farther to one side,

the seaman doesn't
have the strength

to get to the high
side of the ship.

To Captain Davidson's credit,
he stayed there

to the very last minute to try
to save the life

of this one seaman.

NARRATOR:
The audio recordings
revealed their final words.

SULLIVAN:
I don't have a ladder up here.

I can't extend it down to you.

I don't have a rope
to pull you up.

You are going to have to
pull yourself up to the side

of the ship in order
to get out of here.

And the seaman is saying,
"Captain, I can't, I can't.

Don't leave me."

And Captain Davidson is saying,

"I'm not gonna leave you."

And he doesn't.

NARRATOR:
The sinking of the El Faro

claimed all 33 sailors' lives.

SULLIVAN:
Every family of a
seaman knows that

they're involved in
a dangerous occupation.

Nobody expects that they're
going to go out to sea

and not come back.

NARRATOR:
So why did Captain Davidson sail

the El Faro straight
into hurricane Joaquin?

Audio recordings
reveal confusion about

the hurricane's
severity and location.

Only minor course
adjustments were made.

According to the NTSB report,

the captain knew he was
sailing into a severe storm

and his crew was uncomfortable
with his decision.

SULLIVAN:
The captain and the chief mate

had a discussion about
alternate routes very early

in the voyage, and the captain
considered that

and rejected
the alternative routes.

Later, at 2:00 in the morning,

the second mate, Danielle,
actually rang up the captain

who was in his cabin asleep
and suggested to him

that they needed
to do something.

And the captain said it didn't
feel like it was that bad

and he went back to sleep.

(waves crashing)

The captain's attitude
was one of bravado.

He said, "Look, I travel
in the Gulf of Alaska.

"I see weather and waves
like this all the time.

"And, therefore, I'm not
going to be concerned,

and you shouldn't be either."

NARRATOR:
The crew may choose
to raise concerns,

but the captain's decision
is always final.

Could this be what
happened on the Ever Given?

Did the captain simply
make a bad decision

that led to the accident?

After freeing the Ever Given,
the Canal Authority tows

the ship to the appropriately
named Great Bitter Lake.

Here, in a further twist,

the Egyptian authorities
place the ship under arrest.

It can go no further
until the Canal Authority

and the ship owners
conclude negotiations

to determine who will pay
for the salvage operation.

The Egyptians leveled an
initial claim against Ever Given

of 916 million U.S. dollars.

(speaking Arabic)

(translated):
We were negotiating
with the owners

to get back the losses
we incurred at least.

(speaking Arabic)

NARRATOR:
It is terrible news for
those with cargo on board.

The case ends up in
the Egyptian courts.

♪ ♪

Here, the ship owners
produce transcripts

of the audio recordings
from the ship's bridge,

as well as a detailed
timeline and accident report,

drawn up by a respected
maritime expert.

They say that in the moments
leading up to the crash,

the maritime pilots,

who were on board to guide the
Ever Given through the canal,

were navigating the vessel.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

To understand events on
the Ever Given's bridge,

first we need to understand

what happens when a maritime
pilot boards a ship.

(ship horn blaring)

Greg Tylawsky was a
San Francisco Bar pilot

for ten years and regularly

piloted ships the size
of the Ever Given.

♪ ♪

In a normal situation,
I board the ship,

I have an exchange with a
master on what the plan

for my routing will be.

Once he's comfortable
with the plan,

or she's comfortable
with the plan,

and I'm comfortable
with the situation

on board the vessel,
the pilot assumes

navigational control
of the vessel.

(indistinct chatter)

They're going to
control the heading,

the speed, the direction,

and the communication protocols.

NARRATOR:
Pilots don't steer
the ship themselves;

they issue commands to the
other officers on the bridge.

To the helmsman,
who controls the direction

of the ship with the rudder.

Starboard Ten.
Starboard Ten.

NARRATOR:
And the bridge watch officer,

who controls the speed of
the ship with the throttle.

(indistinct chatter)

The standard for pilots,
really, around the world,

is that the commands
from pilots are direct

to the person who has their
hands on the steering wheel,

and they're direct to
the person that's standing

next to the throttle
for the main engine.

NARRATOR:
Pilots have performed this
task for hundreds of years,

as they have detailed
local knowledge

of ports and narrow crossings

that the captain, the master
of the ship, does not.

But even though the pilot takes
charge of navigating the ship,

the captain is still responsible
for the ship's safety.

(speaking indistinctly)

TYLAWSKI:
It's the master's duty

to intervene at a point
where it is obvious

that the pilot is in
some way incapacitated,

or is in some way dangerous

to himself or to the vessel.

Starboard 15.

PEKCAN:
The relationship between a pilot

and the captain and his team
on a ship can be very tricky.

The bridge team
will not necessarily

have ever met
this person before,

yet they have to give control
of their vessel to him.

NARRATOR:
In this scenario,

miscommunication
can end in disaster,

and has in the past.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

On November 7, 2007,

the Cosco Busan,
a cargo ship loaded

with more than 2,500 containers

was leaving the
San Francisco Bay

en route for Busan, South Korea.

As the ship's pilot
navigated the vessel

towards the Bay Bridge,

thick fog covered the water.

TYLAWSKI:
On that morning,

I recall driving across
the Bay Bridge

and, looking out,

the Port of Oakland was
completely immersed in fog.

NARRATOR:
At the time,
Captain Greg Tylawsky

was training to become
a San Francisco Bar pilot.

TYLAWSKI:
There's a tremendous
amount of wind and fog

that are prevalent in the area.

You have currents that flow into
the bay and out of the bay.

NARRATOR:
At 8:30 a.m., disaster struck.

The Cosco Busan crashed into one
of the towers of the Bay Bridge,

opening a large gash
in its hull.

TYLAWSKI:
A fellow trainee

walked in and he said,

"Hey, Greg, did you hear?"

My first question to him was,

"Was there any oil
in the water?"

He said, "Yes."

NARRATOR:
53,000 gallons

of oil from
the ship's fuel tanks

quickly spread
around the Bay Area,

eventually contaminating
nearly 26 miles

of protected coastline.

It killed more than 2,500 birds,

disrupted local fishing stocks,

and cost $70 million
to clean up.

TYLAWSKI:
It was a gut punch.

We have such an
unbelievable safety record.

Something like this happening

really hit everyone
very personally.

NARRATOR:
An investigation revealed that

in the dense fog,
and faced with an

unfamiliar radar system,

the pilot misjudged
a crucial turn.

♪ ♪

The report also found
that the pilot was taking

a number of medications
that likely reduced

his ability to safely
pilot the ship.

He was taking things that would
have had a sedative effect.

So I think it's
pretty safe to say

he would not be processing
information effectively.

NARRATOR:
But the report also found that

the captain was reluctant
to assert authority

over the pilot, and failed
to oversee his performance.

The report also suggested

that cultural differences
may have played a role.

TYLAWSKI:
The master

was under the impression

that it must be fine
to sail the ship

because the pilot says that
we should get going.

NARRATOR:
In court, the pilot pleaded
guilty to negligence.

He lost his license

and was jailed for ten months
for causing the oil spill.

♪ ♪

The incident highlights
the critical role

pilots play in the safe
navigation of big ships.

And what can happen when
the captain and the pilot

don't communicate effectively.

MERCOGLIANO:
The relationship

between the master and the pilot

has to be a seamless exchange

of information and of
control of the vessel.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible that
poor communication

between the captain and pilot
contributed

to the Ever Given accident?

♪ ♪

The findings of the
official investigations

have not yet been released.

According to the
Suez Canal Authority,

it was a complex accident
with two main factors at play.

(translated):
The biggest factors were

the weather conditions
and personal mistakes

made by the captain.

The captain was unable
to control the ship,

especially because he
was going at a high speed,

which was a mistake.

NARRATOR:
They also blame the
captain's use of the rudder.

(translated):
He was using the rudder

in the wrong way; he kept
changing direction too fast.

NARRATOR:
Both the owners
and the operators

of the Ever Given
declined to be interviewed.

But in court, the ship
owners stated that it

was the marine pilots who
ordered the increase in speed,

and controlled the
direction of the ship.

By analyzing transcripts
of the audio recordings,

and the report commissioned
by the ship owners,

experts can piece
together a hypothesis

of how the ship came
to be going so fast,

and why it crashed.

♪ ♪

As the Ever Given
approached the canal,

the report says that
strong variable winds

made the ship hard to control.

MERCOGLIANO:
One of the questions
that needs to be asked

is whether or not the
Suez Canal Authority

or the vessel's master
should have not made

the passage through the canal.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
At 7:18 a.m.,

at the entrance of the canal,

the ship veered close
to the left bank.

According to the report,
the pilot then ordered

"additional full speed ahead"

to increase the vessel's speed.

TYLAWSKI:
This is a way to
regain maneuverability,

to increase that resistance
to the wind forces.

NARRATOR:
The transcripts suggest
the maritime pilot ordered

the rudder hard left and hard
right in quick succession.

What appears to
have happened was

the situation began to degrade.

The vessel was
maneuvering in the channel.

It was starting to lose control.

NARRATOR:
At 7:36,

the report states that the wind
rose to 48 miles per hour,

making the vessel even
more difficult to control.

Bank effect dragged
the vessel from

one side of the canal
to the other.

The ship had now increased
speed to over 13 knots.

TYLAWSKI:
Increasing speed
increases inertia,

so that if you need
to do another

corrective motion later on,
guess what you have to do?

You have to increase
the speed even more.

And now you're
in a losing battle,

because every time you
increase that speed,

you reduce your ability
to get out of trouble.

(loud thudding)

NARRATOR:
According to the report,

many different factors
played a part in the crash,

including weather,
the ship's high speed,

and the extreme rudder orders.

The Canal Authority say

that the pilots
are not to blame.

RABIE (translated):
The instructions being given

by the pilots to the
captain are for guidance.

At the end of the day, it's the
captain's responsibility.

He can choose whether or not
he follows the pilot's advice.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Legally, the captain
is always responsible

for the safety of the ship.

But in practice, it's very rare

for a captain to
overrule their pilot.

Questions remain about
the decision making

and communication on the bridge.

MERCOGLIANO:
If a master has a question
regarding a pilot,

it's within his
authority to immediately,

without question,
assume command of the vessel.

But the implications are,

should an accident
befall that vessel,

the master,
by relieving the pilot,

has taken upon himself
the full responsibility

for whatever
happens on the ship.

It also could create
a potential problem

in the future should
that vessel come into

that harbor and
have to use pilots

from that same association.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
After a trial in
the Egyptian courts,

the canal authority
and the ship owners reached

a settlement for
an undisclosed sum.

♪ ♪

The Ever Given was finally
allowed to continue its journey,

more than 100 days
after the crash.

It arrived in the
Netherlands on July 29th

and in England
the following week,

four months late.

This six-day blockage
of the Suez Canal

held up an estimated
$58 billion of cargo,

reportedly cost Egypt
up to $90 million

in lost revenue,

and reduced annual
world trade growth.

♪ ♪

In Egypt, the Canal Authority

is extending a second
lane farther south,

and widening key
sections of the waterway,

to make the route
safer for large ships.

RABIE (translated):
We're on track

and we'll hopefully finish
in two years.

NARRATOR:
But the accident has highlighted

the vulnerability of
international shipping,

and the fragility of
our global supply chain.

MERCOGLIANO:
We have not kept up
with the safety measures

that really need
to ensure that accidents

similar to the ones we've seen

are prevented in the future.

It's too easy for things to go
catastrophically wrong.

SULLIVAN:
The Ever Given was,
I think, a wakeup call

to everybody of the fact that

you're going to have
bigger and bigger ships.

You're more reliant on fewer
ships with more containers.

And if those ships don't arrive,
you can shut down an economy.

And I think if you
didn't get the message

from the Ever Given,
you weren't paying attention.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

ANNOUNCER:
Episodes of "NOVA" are
available with Passport.

This program is also available
on Amazon Prime Video.

♪ ♪

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