The captain of El Faro, Michael Davidson of Windham, Maine, was
raised in South Portland, alongside Maine's largest port, and spent
summers nearby at a family home on an island in Casco Bay.
The U.S. Coast Guard called off the search for the 28 American crew
members and five Polish contract workers aboard El Faro late on
Wednesday. The 790-foot (240-meter) container ship, owned by Tote
Inc, went down in 15,000 feet (4,750 meters) of water during
Hurricane Joaquin while on a cargo run between Jacksonville,
Florida, and Puerto Rico.
Some mariners have questioned Davidson's decision to steam into the
path of Joaquin. It is not known why the ship took the path it did.
The National Transportation Safety Board began an investigation on
Tuesday. Bella Dinh-Zarr, the panel's vice chairman, told a news
conference in Jacksonville that investigators had interviewed the
master of El Yunque, El Faro's sister ship, along with port and
other officials, and the Navy would search for the sunken ship.
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Nick Mavodones, a manager with Casco Bay Lines in Portland who met
Davidson as a child and later worked with him captaining ferry
boats, said Maine's rugged coastline taught Davidson important
lessons.
"I like to think that it was a real proving ground," he said. "We
have a lot of fog, big tides, nor’easters and winter storms. This
was where he honed his skills in boat-handling and navigating."
Maine's island-speckled coastline, popular with holidaymakers, has a
long seafaring history and is world famous for its lobster fishing.
Mavodones said Davidson was an athletic child who loved water-skiing
and diving off the dock.
"He took his job as a captain very seriously. He was meticulous
about details," he said.
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Davidson attended Maine Maritime Academy, which held a vigil on
Tuesday attended by hundreds of students and alumni in Castine,
Maine, in memory of five graduates lost on the El Faro.
Scott Futcher, a fellow captain who graduated from the academy in
1987, a year ahead of Davidson, recalled him as a passionate mariner
who studied hard.
"I knew him well. He was very cheery, gregarious, I would say
charismatic," he said.
As a young mate in the 1990s, Futcher worked on one of El Faro's
sister ships for New Jersey-based Tote Inc, running between Tacoma,
Washington, and Anchorage, Alaska.
"Tote put a lot of trust in their captains and Mike was a very
trustworthy guy. He worked his tail off," he said.
Futcher last saw Davidson in the late 1990s at an academy reunion.
"His ultimate goal was to be a Portland harbor pilot," he recalled,
a job that affords a more stable shore life.
Davidson's family did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
(Additional reporting by David Adams in Miami; Editing by Frances
Kerry and Leslie Adler)
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