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U.S.-Based Cargo Ship With Crew of 33 Sank in Storm U.S.-Based Cargo Ship With Crew of 33 Sank in Storm
(about 1 hour later)
MIAMI — Coast Guard officials said Monday that they believed a cargo ship that went missing in the Bahamas during Hurricane Joaquin had sunk. MIAMI — The cargo ship that disappeared Thursday near the Bahamas is believed to have sunk during Hurricane Joaquin, the Coast Guard said Monday, but the search for survivors continued in an area where debris from the ship has been spotted.
Coast Guard aircraft continued on Monday to search for survivors of the ship, El Faro, a day after finding a large amount of debris floating near its last known position. “We believe it sank in the last known position that we recorded on Thursday,” about 35 miles northeast of Crooked Islands, the Bahamas, said Capt. Mark Fedor of the Coast Guard. “We are still looking for survivors or any signs of life or any signs of that vessel.”
Crew members’ families told WTLV television of Jacksonville, Fla., that the Coast Guard had informed them that El Faro had sunk, and that one body had been recovered. Early Thursday, the crew of the cargo ship, El Faro, sent out a distress signal, reported that it had lost propulsion and was taking on water, and then all contact was lost. The ship was carrying a crew of 33 people, including 28 Americans and five Polish citizens.
The Coast Guard said Sunday that its aircraft had spotted debris — including life jackets, cargo containers and an oil slick — northeast of Crooked Islands, the Bahamas, where El Faro was last reported on Thursday. Officials said they could not be sure that the debris was from El Faro, but among the items recovered over the weekend was a life ring bearing the ship’s name. Search planes have spotted a handful of survival suits in the water, including one with an unidentifiable human body in it, Captain Fedor said. “We also recovered a lifeboat with El Faro markings on it,” but no one in it, he said. “It was heavily damaged.”
If crew members were able to get into one of the lifeboats and launch it, “they would have been abandoning ship into a Category 4 hurricane,” Captain Fedor said. “You’re talking about 140-mile-an-hour winds, seas upwards of 50 feet, basically zero visibility. Those are challenging conditions to survive in.”
When asked if the ship should have gone ahead with the voyage, Captain Fedor said, “That was the ship captain’s decision to make.” He said both the National Transportation Safety Board and the Coast Guard would investigate the incident.
But a Coast Guard spokesman, David Schuhlein, said the Coast Guard’s own vessels would not risk hitting such extreme weather.
“We put our ships in port and try to get them out of the way,” he said.
Aircraft from the Coast Guard and the Navy are searching two distinct debris fields, Captain Fedor said, one covering about 300 square nautical miles, and the other, about 60 miles to the north, covering about 70 square nautical miles. Spotters have located life vests, life rafts, a cargo door, an oil slick and a lot of Styrofoam, among other signs of the ship.
The Coast Guard said its aircraft had so far searched an area of 70,000 square miles, and it sent HC-130 search planes back to the area Monday morning.The Coast Guard said its aircraft had so far searched an area of 70,000 square miles, and it sent HC-130 search planes back to the area Monday morning.
Early Thursday morning, crew members aboard El Faro reported that the ship had lost propulsion and had taken on water. TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico, the owner of the 790-foot-long ship, reported that it lost contact with El Faro at 7:20 a.m. Thursday. TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico, the owner of the 790-foot-long ship, reported that it lost contact with El Faro at 7:20 a.m. Thursday.
The ship had a crew of 33, including 28 Americans and five Polish citizens. Without propulsion, Captain Fedor said, the ship would have turned sideways to the force of the storm, struck broadside by waves and wind — a very dangerous condition. In addition, he said, it was already listing about 15 degrees from the water it had taken on.
For days, the effort was mostly fruitless, even as rescuers searched more than 30,000 square miles. On Saturday, Coast Guard officials recovered a life ring from El Faro, but the ship remained out of contact and out of sight. TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico, said in a statement Saturday that the discovery of the life preserver “reflects that the ship was caught in rough seas and extreme weather” but that it was “in no way indicative of the ship’s fate.” Relatives of crew members had gathered at a union hall in Jacksonville, Fla., in recent days to await news of the American-flagged ship’s status.
Relatives of crew members had gathered at a union hall in Jacksonville in recent days to await news of the American-flagged ship’s status. Before Saturday, the Coast Guard planes and helicopters were hampered in their search of the area, because “Hurricane Joaquin was essentially sitting right over it,” Captain Fedor said.
Coast Guard officials repeatedly said that weather conditions hampered their search, which included airplanes and helicopters. Pilots said they flew in winds that were sometimes in excess of 115 miles an hour, and they reported swells that were more than 40 feet. In a video released by the Coast Guard, a lieutenant who flew one of the search planes said Saturday produced “the most challenging weather conditions anyone on our crew had ever flown in.” Coast Guard pilots said they flew in winds sometimes in excess of 115 miles an hour, and they reported swells of more than 40 feet. In a video released by the Coast Guard, a lieutenant who flew one of the search planes said Saturday produced “the most challenging weather conditions anyone on our crew had ever flown in.”
El Faro’s owner said the ship left Jacksonville for San Juan, P.R., on Sept. 29, when Joaquin was still a tropical storm. But Joaquin soon became more intense, and by Thursday, morning when El Faro lost contact with the shore, the hurricane was a Category 3 storm, with winds of up to 120 miles per hour. Mr. Schuhlein said the search aircraft, which fly very low, were severely battered on Thursday, even losing exterior panels, and were forced to turn back.
El Faro’s cargo included nearly 400 containers and about 300 trailers and cars, the ship’s owner said. On Saturday, the first sign of the ship was found, a life ring with El Faro’s name on it, and much more debris was seen on Sunday.
El Faro’s owner said the ship left Jacksonville for San Juan, P.R., on Sept. 29, when Joaquin was still a tropical storm. But the storm soon became more intense, and by Thursday morning, when El Faro lost contact with the shore, it was a Category 3 hurricane, with winds of up to 120 m.p.h.
El Faro’s cargo included 391 shipping containers and about 294 trailers and cars, the Coast Guard said.