AUGUSTA — Both chambers of the Maine Legislature unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday honoring the 33 El Faro crew members who died when the cargo ship sank during Hurricane Joaquin last October.

The text of the resolution reads that members of the Legislature “recognize and honor the lives of the 33 crew members aboard the El Faro” and offer “our heartfelt condolences to the families, friends and loved ones of the crew members.”

The resolution names the four Maine residents lost at sea in one of the deadliest U.S. shipping disasters in decades: Michael Davidson, 53, of Windham, the captain; Michael Holland, 25, of Wilton; and Danielle Randolph, 34, and Dylan Meklin, 23, both of Rockland. All were graduates of Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, as was a fifth crew member, 26-year-old Mitchell Kuflik of Brooklyn, New York.

A delegation of students and other representatives of the maritime academy attended Tuesday’s proceedings in the Legislature.

The resolution also commended members of the U.S. Coast Guard, Navy, Air Force and Military Sealift Command who searched for the crew members in the days after the ship sank.

The El Faro went down in roughly 15,000 feet of water near the Bahamas on Oct. 1 while traveling its regular route between Florida and Puerto Rico. The El Faro was attempting to outrun Hurricane Joaquin – which was still a tropical storm when the ship left port in Jacksonville – when the ship experienced a hull breach and lost its main propulsion units.

The U.S. Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation is currently holding hearings in Jacksonville on the El Faro disaster. The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the sinking and announced this month that it will launch a second mission to search for the El Faro’s missing voyage data recorder.


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