US Coast Guard says missing cargo ship sank in Hurricane Joaquin

The U.S. Coast Guard confirms one person is dead and that their remains were found in a survival suit.

The vessel, which left Jacksonville, Fla., in the early hours of Wednesday morning, bound for Puerto Rico with a load of cars and other cargo, had a crew of 33, including 28 Americans and five Poles.

“We continue to hold out hope for survivors”, its statement said. “We’re not going to discount somebody’s will to survive”.

Though family members told WFOX/WSVN that they questioned why the ship sailed into what was then a tropical storm, Greene told the station that the boat’s captain felt the conditions were favorable and “was very confident the ship was doing well, the crew was quite up to date”.

When asked if the ship should have gone ahead with the voyage, Captain Fedor said, “That was the ship captains decision to make.” He said both the National Transportation Safety Board and the Coast Guard would investigate the incident.

Tuesday September 29: El Faro leaves Jacksonville, Florida, headed to Puerto Rico with supplies. According to a report by CNN, styrofoam, boxes, and pieces of wood were found scattered throughout the debris field, but were not yet confirmed to have been from the cargo ship.

The cargo ship was built in 1975, updated in 2006 and had a Coast Guard inspection in March.

The CEO of a Tote Maritime subsidiary in Jacksonville, Phil Greene, says Captain Michael Davidson thought he could pass in front of the storm, but the ship had a problem with its propulsion system and ended up without power in Joaquin’s path. “We are searching for any signs of life for that vessel”.

The last known location of the cargo ship was near Crooked Island, in the Bahamas, on the southwestern edge of the so-called Bermuda Triangle. The company has not said why the ship was traveling amid a Category Four hurricane.

Mark Fedor said one patch of debris was spotted near the last recorded coordinates of the El Faro container ship near the Bahamas. Three Coast Guard cutters, two C-130 aircraft, helicopters and a U.S. Navy plane were searching across a wide expanse of Atlantic Ocean near Crooked Island. The last transmission from the crew members was reported by authorities to have involved the ship taking on water, but the flooding had been contained within the El Faro.

Company spokesman Mike Hanson said such ancillary crews are commonly hired to perform repairs and maintenance. It wasn’t until Sunday that Coast Guard vessels and aircrafts were able to search without high winds and with good visibility.

Howard “Howie” Schoenly, 50, a sailor for 25 years who grew up in East Rockaway, is second engineer on the El Faro in charge of the engines, said his brother, Steven Schoenly of Freeport.