Free Republic

<p>USCG confirms SS El faro has sunk. 1 body and one damaged life boat found among large debris field. details forthcoming.</p>

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...

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, sailed out of Jacksonville Tuesday en route to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Tim Nolan, president of TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico, said that when the ship sailed, the crew was monitoring what was then Tropical Storm Joaquin. He said TOTE lost all communication with the El Faro as of 7:20 a.m. Thursday. "There are a number of possible reasons...