Captain Lopera, guided by Perka, headed the ship west, then north, staying several hundred miles off the U.S. coast. During the voyage to Alaska the ship encountered engine problems due to contaminated fuel and overheating generators. The navigation devices also malfunctioned, but Perka's navy training allowed him to use celestial navigation. Engineer Hines later testified that an overhaul recently completed in Mexico was improperly done. He stated that first one engine failed, then the other (two engines turned a generator which powered the electric motor driving the propellor), leaving the ship without power and in darkness. Hines managed to get one engine restarted.