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Rescue crews find debris likely from ship missing after hurricane Joaquin Rescuers find debris likely from cargo ship missing after hurricane Joaquin
(about 5 hours later)
Search and rescue teams on Sunday located debris which appeared to belong to the cargo ship El Faro that went missing in the eye of hurricane Joaquin with 33 mostly American crew members aboard, the US coast guard and the ship’s owner said. Rescuers have found debris believed to be from the cargo ship El Faro, which went missing near the Bahamas in the eye of hurricane Joaquin with 33 mostly American crew members aboard more than three days ago.
Related: US resumes search for hurricane-battered cargo ship in BahamasRelated: US resumes search for hurricane-battered cargo ship in Bahamas
The US coast guard said late on Sunday that the debris field covered 225 square miles, and included styrofoam, wood, cargo and other items.
Life jackets, containers and an oil sheen were spotted by coast guard aircrews flying over the Bahamas on the third day of their search for the container ship.Life jackets, containers and an oil sheen were spotted by coast guard aircrews flying over the Bahamas on the third day of their search for the container ship.
The owner of the El Faro, Tote Maritime, also said two vessels it sent to the scene had found a container “which appears to be from the El Faro”. Tim Nolan, president of the ship’s owner, Tote Maritime, said two vessels the company sent to the scene had found a container “which appears to be from the El Faro”.
There had been no sighting of the El Faro or any life boats, Tote Maritime Puerto Rico president, Tim Nolan, said in a statement. The coast guard could not confirm that the objects belonged to the ship, which sent a distress call on Thursday morning in the Bahamas but has not been heard from since. There was no sighting of the El Faro or any lifeboats, Nolan said.
“Our thoughts and prayers remain with the 33 individuals aboard the ship and their families,” he added. With no word on the fate of the crew, relatives gathered at a seafarers’ union hall in Jacksonville, Florida where they were briefed by the Coast Guard and the ship’s owner.
The coast guard could not confirm that the objects belonged to the El Faro, which sent a distress call on Thursday in the Bahamas but has not been heard from since. “This is my baby, this is my little girl,” said Mary Shevory Wright, an elderly woman waiting for word about her daughter, Mariette Wright, 51, a deckhand who had been at sea since the age of 18.
“The debris is scattered about over several miles,” said chief petty officer Ryan Doss with the Miami station. “It’s going to take some time to verify. The items would appear to be consistent with the missing ship.” Fearing the worst Shevory Wright said she was reluctant to enter the union hall. “They are just going to make me cry.”
El Faro, a 735ft container ship with 28 US citizens and five Polish nationals aboard, was headed to San Juan, Puerto Rico, from Jacksonville, Florida, when it reported losing propulsion and that it was listing and taking on water, the coast guard said. Another woman sat by the curb outside the union hall sobbing as family members hugged each other and held hands nearby.
Joaquin battered the central Bahamas archipelago for more than two days with 130mph winds, a potentially catastrophic category four hurricane on a scale of one to five. Related: Hurricane Joaquin bears down on Bahamas and could hit US east coast
Doss said weather conditions in the search area had greatly improved on Sunday which would enable coast guard ships or a helicopter to retrieve the debris for verification. Weather conditions in the search area had greatly improved on Sunday, the coast guard said. Four C-130 search-and-rescue planes from the coast guard and US air force went out at dawn, while three coast guard cutters were also sent to the area.
“There is unrestricted visibility and ideal search conditions right now,” he said. El Faro, a 735-foot (224-metre) container ship with 28 US citizens and five Poles aboard, was headed to San Juan, Puerto Rico from Jacksonville, Florida when it reported losing propulsion, listing and taking on water after sailing into the path of Joaquin in the Bahamas, the coast guard said.
The coast guard and US air force sent out four C-130 search and rescue planes at dawn on Sunday, and three coast guard cutters were headed to the area. Relatives of the crew have spoken highly of the ship’s experienced captain, though some questioned the decision to sail into such a powerful storm.
“The ship should never have left,” Rochelle Hamm, wife of one crew member, Frank Hamm, a father of five, told NBC News. After it departed it should have changed course before Joaquin became a hurricane, she added.
Joaquin battered the central Bahamas archipelago for more than two days with 130 mile-per-hour (210 km-per-hour) winds, a potentially catastrophic Category 4 hurricane on a scale of 1 to 5.
“The ship was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Mike Hanson, a spokesman for Tote Maritime, said in an interview. Joaquin was just a tropical storm when El Faro set out from Jacksonville but later intensified rapidly into a major hurricane, he added.
The National Hurricane Center warned late Tuesday that Joaquin would become a hurricane in the central Bahamas within 12 hours.