The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has urged the US Coast Guard to force owners of older US-flag ships to replace open-type lifeboats with fully-enclosed ones that are required for most vessels.
The recommendation comes as part of the investigation into the sinking of the 5,330-lane-metre El Faro (built 1975), which was not required to have fully-enclosed lifeboats because it was built before they were needed and because subsequent upgrades of the ship were not deemed significant enough to trigger the requirement.
