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

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK

AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

ONE OF JANET MASLIN’S MUST-READ BOOKS OF THE SUMMER

A NEW YORK TIMES EDITOR'S CHOICE

ONE OF OUTSIDE MAGAZINE’S 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 vanish—until now.

Relying on hundreds of exclusive interviews with family members and maritime experts, as well as the words of the crew members themselves—whose conversations were captured by the ship’s data recorder—journalist Rachel Slade unravels the mystery of the sinking of El Faro. As she recounts the final twenty-four hours onboard in this gripping survival story, Slade vividly depicts the officers’ anguish and fear as they struggled to carry out Captain Michael Davidson’s 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 shipping—a cut-throat industry plagued by razor-thin profits and ever more violent hurricanes fueled by global warming.

A richly reported work of narrative nonfiction and 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.

This unforgettable account of a modern disaster at sea reveals:

• Anatomy of a Disaster: A minute-by-minute account of how the 790-foot container ship El Faro sailed directly into the eyewall of Hurricane Joaquin, a catastrophic category four storm.
• The Final Hours: Hear the crew’s own words, captured by the ship’s data recorder, as they confront the storm and Captain Michael Davidson’s fateful commands.
• Investigative Journalism: Based on hundreds of interviews, this book exposes the pressures facing America’s aging merchant marine fleet and the cut-throat shipping industry.
• A Maritime Tragedy: An unforgettable true story of the worst American shipping disaster in thirty-five years and the hardworking crew who paid the ultimate price.