Attorneys: ‘Our role is to protect the rights of the Randolph and Meklin families’

Tue, 12/15/2015 - 4:00pm

Holly S. Edwards

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Attorneys representing the families of deceased El Faro crew members Danielle Randolph and Dylan Meklin, who both hailed from Rockland, have filed documents opposing cargo ship owner TOTE Martime's request that the courts limit its liability and financial responsibility arising out of the sinking of the ship and the loss of 33 lives.

In a Dec. 5 press release, Berman & Simmons attorneys Benjamin Gideon and Steven Silin said they represent the families of 34-year-old Randolph and 23-year-old Meklin, who were among the 33 crew members killed when El Faro sank during Hurricane Joaquin.

In addition to being from Rockland, Randolph and Meklin were also both graduates of Maine Maritime Academy in Castine.

The last communication with the ship was on the morning of Oct. 1. El Faro was in the Atlantic Ocean, near the Bahamas, when radio contact with the ship was lost beyond 7:20 that morning.

A day earlier, on Sept. 30, the ship's captain, 53-year-old Michael Davidson of Windham, a 1988 graduate of Maine Maritime, emailed a TOTE safety official that he intended to take a route south of the predicted path of the hurricane. That path, he said, would have El Faro pass about 65 miles from its center, according to information released to the public by National Transportation Safety Board investigators in November.

According to the NTSB, in an advisory issued Oct. 1 at 2 a.m., the National Hurricane Center predicted seas of 30 feet with sustained winds of 64 knots (74 mph), increasing to 105 knots (121 mph) as El Faro approached the wall of the eye of the hurricane.

The NTSB also determined during its investigation that in a recorded satellite phone call [five hours later] to the company's emergency call center at 7 a.m., Davidson told the call center operator that he had a marine emergency. He reported that there was a hull breach, a scuttle had blown open and that there was water in hold number 3. He also said that the ship had lost its main propulsion unit and the engineers could not get it going. The operator then connected the captain with the Designated Person Ashore. The DPA told investigators that the captain had communicated similar information to him that was provided to the call center operator, and also that the captain had estimated the height of the seas that El Faro was encountering to be 10 to 12 feet.

On Nov. 2, the NTSB confirmed that the wreckage of El Faro had been found on the bottom of the ocean, following the early discovery of a small debris field weeks earlier. On Oct. 5, the U.S. Coast Guard announced it had found a life boat with El Faro markings, and a body in a survival suit that could not be identified or confirmed as being connected to El Faro. On Nov. 16, the NTSB said the U.S. Navy had completed it contracted work documenting the sunken cargo ship and its debris field, but was unable to locate the ship’s Voyage Data Recorder, which had been mounted under the ship’s mast on the navigation bridge. The navigation bridge had been located during the search, but the mast and the VDR remain among the missing.

Since the disaster, attorneys from Florida, Texas and throughout the country have filed lawsuits in Florida's state and federal courts on behalf of the 33 victims. TOTE Maritime filed its own lawsuit, commonly referred to as a "Limitation Action," according to Gideon in the release, in federal court in Jacksonville, seeking to limit its liability and responsibility for paying claims.

In Tuesday's filings, Gideon lodged his clients' objections to TOTE's attempts to limit its liability and financial responsibility. In the release, Gideon said he asserts that the owner was responsible for allowing the ship to navigate into the path of the hurricane, while in an unseaworthy condition and overloaded with cargo. The El Faro lost propulsion, took on water and capsized in the storm, resulting in the deaths of all crew members, including Randolph and Meklin.

"This tragedy has been felt in Maine, Florida, and throughout the Maritime community. We do not think it is appropriate for any court to impose limitations on the shipowner's liability or financial responsibility," Gideon said. "Our role is to protect the rights of the Randolph and Meklin families. Today's filings are the first step in the process."

Randolph was second mate on El Faro, and was described by Gideon as a role model for women in the male-dominated Merchant Marine. She graduated from Rockland District High School in 2000 and from Maine Maritime Academy in 2004. Randolph was remembered at a memorial service for her love of the sea, steadfast friendship, and hobbies including retro fashion, photography, Zumba, and cooking. She was a parishioner of the Advent Christian Church in Port Clyde.

El Faro's planned cargo run from Jacksonville to Puerto Rico was Meklin's first-ever trip as a professional mariner. A standout three-sport athlete, Meklin graduated from Rockland District High School in 2010 and Maine Maritime Academy in 2015. After an internship with Alion Science and Technology Corp., he took his first job as an assistant engineer with TOTE.