Crew from missing U.S. cargo ship assumed dead

“The El Faro was on its… needed a death certificate”. A second survival suit marked with the name of the ship was found Wednesday morning, along with an unmarked life preserver and other debris.

Options for survival would have quickly grown limited for the crew of the El Faro as Hurricane Joaquin approached.

The NTSB investigation team, which arrived in Jacksonville on Tuesday, will remain seven to ten days, and “is already interviewing off rotation crew members, pouring over documents and reviewing recovered wreckage”.

“Sometimes circumstances overwhelm you”.

One of the questions among mariners is whether El Faro’s captain followed the rule. “The ship has gone down, took everybody with it. There’s really no speculation to be made”, said Mary Shevory, mother of crewmember Mariette Wright. The Coast Guard said the ship could have sunk to a depth of thousands of feet. El Faro was heading straight into the NHC’S projected track of the hurricane, which was then packing 105 miles per hour winds and whipping up 50-foot waves.

“These are trained mariners”.

“Although this case has drawn attention because of Matthew Keys’ employment in the news media, this was simply a case about a disgruntled employee who used his technical skills to taunt and torment his former employer”, U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner said in a statement. But “those are challenging conditions to survive”.

“I will continue to pray for the crew members of El Faro, their families, friends and local communities”, U.S. Rep Bruce Poliquin said in an email.

Investigators trying to determine why a 790-foot cargo ship stalled and sank in the howling winds of Hurricane Joaquin (wah-KEEN’) will be searching for a brightly colored device bolted to the vessel deep in the ocean.

A heavily damaged life boat with markings consistent with those on board the El Faro were also located Sunday.

According to the data, El Faro’s last best change to avoid the storm came at 5 p.m. September 30, when it sailed past the “Hole in the Wall”, a gap in the Bahamas archipelago that would have taken it toward Cuba.

Thursday is the same day Laurie Bobillot received an ominous email from her daughter, second mate Danielle Randolph, who was aboard the El Faro.

“We are still considering this a search and rescue at this point, ” Rios said. That was the last time she’d hear from her.

“My guess is that he saw that he could outrun the storm, providing everything went right”, Larry Legere, of Maine, said of Davidson.

The ship left Jacksonville on September 29 while Joaquin was still a tropical storm.

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board will now try to unravel the causes of the sinking. The Coast Guard called off a search for possible survivors Wednesday.

“I wish we did”, Anthony Chiarello, said Tote Inc.’s president and CEO.

Unspeakably tragic. Please keep the loved ones of the crew in your prayers.

“I raised those questions”, Nelson said.