Jacksonville cargo ship missing in hurricane Coast Guard in Miami searching for ship with 33 crew

http://www.news4jax.com/news/jacksonville-cargo-ship-missing-in-hurricane/35618018 ^

[halo66]

MIAMI -

Coast Guard search and rescue crews are searching for a container ship with 33 crew members that sailed out of Jacksonville and was reported to be caught in Hurricane Joaquin, near Crooked Island, Bahamas.

The El Faro, a 735-foot ro-ro cargo ship, was en route to San Juan, Puerto Rico, from Jacksonville.

About 7:30 a.m. Thursday, watchstanders at the Coast Guard Atlantic Area command center in Portsmouth, Virginia, received an Inmarsat satellite notification stating the El Faro was beset by Hurricane Joaquin, had lost propulsion and had a 15-degree list. The crew reported the ship had previously taken on water, but that all flooding had been contained...

http://www.news4jax.com/news/jacksonville-cargo-ship-missing-in-hurricane/35618018

[wrench]

Looks like they found a floating container and an oil sheen near last known position.

Not good

“Tim Nolan, president TOTE Marine Puerto Rico, the El Faro’s owner, said Sunday afternoon that another company-owned ship and a contracted tugboat found a container that appears to be from the missing ship and observed what appears to be an oil sheen.”

[wrench]

From Fox:

U.S. Coast Guard crews reported spotting a 225-square-mile debris field on Sunday of Styrofoam, wood, cargo and other items near the last known position of a missing cargo ship.