WAREHAM, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) – Two of the crew members on a ship missing in the Bahamas have been identified as Mass. Maritime graduates.
According to the school, 33-year-old Keith Griffin graduated in 2005. A spokesman for the college said that Jeffrey Mathias, a Kingston resident and 1996 engineering graduate, was also aboard the ship.
Both were crew members on board the 790-foot El Faro when it lost contact during Hurricane Joaquin Thursday.
Griffin’s wife, Katie told FOX25 that she is just waiting for word. She said she last spoke to Keith Wednesday night. He told her that he ate dinner and was going to bed early, around 6:30 or 7:30 p.m.
"There's going to be a storm tonight. I might not get much sleep,” he told her.
She said he told her that he loved her, “and that was it," she said.
Katie Griffin said, “He's a great guy with the best heart."
Everyone FOX25 talked to in Griffin's hometown of Winthrop said the same thing about him.
"Keith, the type of kid that I know Keith...was strong, like a fighter. I'm hoping he will be rescued along with the other ones," said his former neighbor Linda Friel.
Winthrop High School's head football coach, Sean Driscoll was Griffin's defensive coordinator when he played for the Vikings.
"Keith was, on the football field, he was as tough as they came," Driscoll said. "If anyone could survive, it would be Keith."
Oct. 2 was the seventh anniversary of the couple’s first date. They have been married two years, and are expecting twins in March.
Keith Griffin has been all around the world, including South Korea and the Suez Canal. Katie said he has sailed through big storms and had no reason to think this would be any different.
"We never give up hope. we're never gonna give up hope until we know the definite answers," Driscoll said.
In a statement from Mass. Maritime Academy, the school’s President Rear Admiral Francis McDonald said they are holding onto hope.
"We remain hopeful that Keith and the entire crew of the El Faro will be found safe. In the meantime, our thoughts and prayers go out to Keith's family and to the families of all the mariners on board. During this difficult time, we want them to know that Massachusetts Maritime Academy and the entire maritime community stands by them while this search continues."
Mathias' family owns Bog Hollow Cranberry Farm in Kingston.
A short time after McDonald and Mass. Maritime released their statement the coast guard announced that the El Faro sank, but the search was continuing for the 33 crew members.
Loved ones of the crew members gathered Monday night in Jacksonville, Florida, where the ship is based out of, and the Coast Guard briefed them on the status of the search. Many of them left in tears.
There were 28 Americans on the container ship, including Mary Shevory's daughter, Maryette Wright, who is a Mass. native.
"I just hope they find the ship and bring my daughter home," Shevory said.
The Coast Guard has found widespread debris, but no sign of the ship. On Monday, in the debris, they found a survival suit containing unidentifiable human remains.
Cox Media Group
