00:46 Transcript Shows Ships Last Hours A transcript reveals the last hours of the doomed freighter El Faro, which sank in a hurricane in 2015, killing everyone aboard.

At a Glance Despite repeated warnings, the caption of the El Faro cargo ship sailed directly towards the eye of Hurricane Joaquin.

Voice recordings captured the final 26 hours of the doomed ship as it sunk in the Category 3 hurricane.

The captain of the cargo ship El Faro ignored warnings and pleas from his crew to steer clear of Hurricane Joaquin last year. Instead, he continued on his course directly towards the eye of the storm to the ship and the crew's doom, a transcript of voice recordings from the bridge of the ship reveal.

According to the transcript, Capt. Michael Davidson was at the helm of the 790-foot cargo ship bound from Jacksonville to Puerto Rico on a course that took the El Faro straight into the center of the Category 3 hurricane. His apparent unwillingness to avoid the storm led to the demise of the ship and its 33-member crew off the coast of San Salvador Island in the Bahamas. The ship's sinking became the worst commercial shipping accident off the U.S. coast in decades.

According to the 500-page transcript of voice recordings released Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board, the longest the NTSB has ever compiled, members of Davidson's crew questioned his decision to continue into the path of the storm on two separate occasions.

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/ap_16348482516400_0.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/ap_16348482516400_0.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/ap_16348482516400_0.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > This undated image made from a video by the National Transportation Safety Board shows the stern of the sunken ship El Faro. Federal accident investigators are releasing a transcript of audio recovered from the bridge of the doomed freighter El Faro, which sank last year in a hurricane near the Bahamas. The recordings transcribed from the ship's voyage data recorder are set to be released Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016, by the NTSB in Washington, D.C. (National Transportation Safety Board via AP) (National Transportation Safety Board via AP) Even up until the recording ended that October morning last year, the transcript shows that Davidson still believed they would come out of the storm safe and sound.

Moments before the recording ended, a crew member is heard shouting to the captain, "help me, help me," to which Davidson replied, “Don't panic, work your way here." The crew member then frantically yells, "I'm a goner." Davidson says, "No, you're not."

That conversation is followed by unintelligible yelling and then silence. The recording ends at 7:39 a.m. on Oct. 1. 2015.

The NTSB also released thousands of other pages, including interviews, data, emails, and 'factual reports' on weather, engineering and other factors that might have contributed to the tragedy.

The recordings captured 26 hours from the bridge before the El Faro sank, beginning at 5:37 a.m. on Sept 30. Throughout those final 26 hours, the weather was a constant topic of conversation.

For example, third mate Jeremie Riehm informed Davidson via intercom around 11 a.m. that storm data indicated that the cargo ship would be a mere 22 miles from the eye of Hurricane Joaquin within the next five hours and suggested a change of course. Davidson declined.

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/screen_shot_2016-12-14_at_8.37.17_am.png?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/screen_shot_2016-12-14_at_8.37.17_am.png?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/screen_shot_2016-12-14_at_8.37.17_am.png?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > This graphic, released by the NTSB Dec. 13, 2016, depicts the locations of the El Faro Oct. 1, 2015, relative to the locations of Hurricane Joaquin. The El Faro sank Oct. 1, 2015, and all 33 crew members perished in the accident. The NTSB added five factual reports Dec. 13, 2016, to the docket for the investigation of the sinking of the El Faro, including the transcript of the El Faro’s voyage data recorder. (NTSB) (NTSB) Riehm told another crewmember that Davidson believed the ship would be south of the storm by 2 a.m. and the winds would be 100 mph, as predicted.

“Nantucket sleigh ride,” the crew member replied, using "a whaling term used to describe the ride sailors went on after harpooning a whale," reports the Herald.

“I trust what he’s saying — it’s just being 20 miles away from hundred knot winds — this doesn’t even sound right,” Riehm said.

Later, while on watch, Riehm is heard saying, "guess I’m just turnin’ into a Chicken Little, but I have a feeling like something bad is gonna happen."

(MORE: Special Report on the El Faro: Violent Seas, Aging Ships )

Two hours later, second mate Danielle Randolph again requested that the captain change the ship's course to avoid the hurricane. Again, he declined.

“Hold on to your ass,” Randolph is heard telling a crew member, with a laugh.

Before the El Faro met its demise, Randolph sent off a note to her mother.

“Not sure if you’ve been following the weather at all, but there is a hurricane out here and we are heading straight into it,” Randolph wrote her mother Laurie Bobillot from the ship.

(MORE: El Faro May Have Received Outdated Hurricane Forecast Before Sinking )

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/el-faro-map_custom-badeee9a3dfe894eef1de4c3814662b6bfb54c45-s1600-c85.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/el-faro-map_custom-badeee9a3dfe894eef1de4c3814662b6bfb54c45-s1600-c85.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/el-faro-map_custom-badeee9a3dfe894eef1de4c3814662b6bfb54c45-s1600-c85.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > A map of Hurricane Joaquin showing where the ship El Faro sank early on Oct. 1, 2015. (NTSB) (NTSB) Soon after, a call was sent from the ship, informing of issues with the ship's oil levels and a 15-degree list, which eventually led to the ship losing propulsion.

"This is a marine emergency. ... we had a hull breach, a scuttle blew open during a storm. We have water down in three hold. We have a heavy list. We've lost the main propulsion unit. The engineers cannot get it going," reports Davidson at 7:01 a.m.

"No one's panicking," he says.

At some point, huge waves began to fill the cargo area with so much water that cars being transported on the ship began to float.

Finally realizing the inevitable, Davidson quickly he and his second mate began composing a distress signal and sent it at 7:13 a.m. The general alarm went off at 7:27 a.m.

It wasn't until containers began falling off the ship that the captain finally issued the command to abandon ship.

“Tell ‘em we’re goin’ in,” Davidson yelled. “Everybody. Get off. Get off the ship. Stay together.”

The recordings end with Davidson remaining on the bridge.

It remains unknown what prompted Davidson to continue on into the storm and not heed warnings. His wife, Teresa, has said that her husband was always very safety-conscious and had gotten into some trouble with a different company when he refused to take out a ship that had steering problems, according to The Washington Post .

The NTSB said it could be months or more before they issue their final report.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Hurricane Joaquin - Oct. 1-2, 2015