Coast Guard to Suspend Search for El Faro

The U.S. Coast Guard announced Wednesday that it will suspend the search for survivors from the cargo ship that disappeared last week in the Bahamas amid high winds and heavy seas caused by Hurricane Joaquin.

“Our focus has been on supporting and caring for the family members, loved ones, and friends of those aboard the El Faro”, the Jacksonville, Florida-based company said.

The search was officially called off at 7 P.M., the Associated Press reports.

Capt. Mark Fedor, chief of response for the Coast Guard, said during a Wednesday afternoon news conference that the operation to locate the El Faro would switch from a rescue mission to a recovery and investigation footing at sunset. Those families recently bonded closer together to share their common link with their men: the sorrow and helplessness of knowing they may have died along with 31 other El Faro crew members.WOKV will continue to follow every development in the ongoing search and the new investigation. Only one unidentified body in a survival suit was recovered, as well as large amounts of debris and a heavily damaged life boat.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified Jordan Dehlinger as an El Faro crew member. On board were 28 crew members from the USA and five from Poland.

The Coast Guard searched a 300-square-mile expanse of Atlantic Ocean near Crooked Island in the Bahamas. “We have gotten a briefing from the Coast Guard”.

Its owners, Tote Maritime, say the ship lost power after its engines broke down.

On Thursday, the Maine Maritime Academy lowered its school flag to half-staff for the 33 missing ‎El Faro‬ crew members and their families.

October. 6 – National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) begins an investigation into the sinking.

“There are a lot of different kinds of robotics that are able to look that deep”, said Dinh-Zarr.

Despite the decision, Green said, “I think we’re still hopeful”.

Mr Obama released a statement describing El Faro’s crew as “beloved sons and daughters, and loving husbands and fathers”.

The last communication between the 790-foot steamship and the mainland was made at 7:20 a.m. October. 1, when Davidson reported that the cargo carrier had lost propulsion and was listing by 15 degrees.

The powerful Hurricane Joaquin’s path which the El Faro crossed.

The data on Thomson Reuters Eikon raises questions about the ship owner’s assertion that the vessel’s captain had chosen a “sound plan” to pass around Joaquin “with a margin of comfort” but was then thwarted by engineering problems.

The crew reported the ship had previously taken on water, but all flooding had been contained, the Coast Guard said.

We have no doubt that these are the darkest days of TOTE’s years as an organization, and indeed, the darkest days in the memory of most seafarers.

The 41-year-old El Faro was scheduled to be retired from Caribbean duty and retrofitted in the coming months for service between the West Coast and Alaska, said Tote executive Phil Greene.