Into the Raging Sea: Thirty-Three Mariners, One Megastorm, and the Sinking of El Faro

A NATIONAL BESTSELLER A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR ONE OF JANET MASLINS MUST-READ BOOKS OF THE SUMMER A NEW YORK TIMES EDITOR'S CHOICE ONE OF OUTSIDE MAGAZINES BEST BOOKS OF THE SUMMER ONE OF AMAZON'S BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE YEAR SO FAR A powerful and affecting story, beautifully handled by Slade, a journalist who clearly knows ships and the sea.Douglas Preston, New York Times Book Review A Perfect Storm for a new generation. Ben Mezrich, bestselling author of The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook On October 1, 2015, Hurricane Joaquin barreled into the Bermuda Triangle and swallowed the container ship El Faro whole, resulting in the worst American shipping disaster in thirty-five years. No one could fathom how a vessel equipped with satellite communications, a sophisticated navigation system, and cutting-edge weather forecasting could suddenly vanishuntil now. Relying on hundreds of exclusive interviews with family members and maritime experts, as well as the words of the crew members themselveswhose conversations were captured by the ships data recorderjournalist Rachel Slade unravels the mystery of the sinking of El Faro. As she recounts the final twenty-four hours onboard, Slade vividly depicts the officers anguish and fear as they struggled to carry out Captain Michael Davidsons increasingly bizarre commands, which, they knew, would steer them straight into the eye of the storm. Taking a hard look at America's aging merchant marine fleet, Slade also reveals the truth about modern shippinga cut-throat industry plagued by razor-thin profits and ever more violent hurricanes fueled by global warming. A richly reported account of a singular tragedy, Into the Raging Sea takes us into the heart of an age-old American industry, casting new light on the hardworking men and women who paid the ultimate price in the name of profit.