Have you heard? US Navy to search for missing SS El Faro

PO1 John Miller — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 04:42:25 -0400

SN Greg Wright posted the original story about this ship being presumed lost at sea, and I came across an update:

http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/2015/10/19/navy-search-ship-lost-off-bahamas-during-storm/74212236/

MIAMI — A Navy vessel was expected to depart Monday on a search for a missing cargo ship that was lost in the Atlantic Ocean during Hurricane Joaquin with 33 crew members on board.

The USNS Apache will be taking equipment and investigators to an area near Crooked Island in the southeastern Bahamas in an attempt to locate the 790-foot cargo ship El Faro and retrieve its data recorder, said Christopher Johnson, for the Naval Sea Systems Command.

The Apache was leaving from Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek in Virginia and should take about two days to reach the area where teams will search for the ship in an area of about 100 square miles and a depth of 15,000 feet, Johnson said.

It's taking a towed pinger locator to find the data recorder as well as side scan sonar and a remotely operated vehicle along with investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the American Bureau of Shipping.

El Faro was on its regular cargo run from Jacksonville, Florida, to San Juan, Puerto Rico, when it lost power and began taking on water Oct. 1 in extremely rough seas churned up by the storm.

Navy to search for ship lost off Bahamas during storm

A Navy vessel was expected to depart Monday on a search for a missing cargo ship that was lost in the Atlantic Ocean during Hurricane Joaquin with 33 crew members on board.

Response by PO3 Steven Sherrill made Oct 20 at 2015 9:55 AM

PO3 Steven Sherrill — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 09:55:27 -0400

PO1 John Miller this is just a sad situation all the way around.

Response by LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow made Oct 20 at 2015 10:01 AM

LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 10:01:52 -0400

I doubt that they will find any remains of crew members, but if they can find the black box and get it back, at least there may be some answers...

Response by SN Greg Wright made Oct 20 at 2015 12:47 PM

SN Greg Wright — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 12:47:45 -0400

PO1 John Miller I'm still a little incensed that they gave up looking for survivors so quickly. There's a lifeboat (and several life rafts) unaccounted for, and if anyone is in those, they can stay alive for, with a little luck, a month or more. I know they can't look forever, but...I wish they'd gone longer than 3 days....

Response by PO2 Peter Klein made Oct 20 at 2015 10:40 PM

PO2 Peter Klein — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 22:40:14 -0400

El Faro probably should have been having a boiler overhaul instead of making its last run.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 1 at 2015 7:58 AM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 07:58:55 -0500

https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/did-you-know-that-u-s-navy-has-found-the-el-faro

Did you know that U.S. Navy has found the EL Faro? | RallyPoint

The U.S. Navy has found the missing ship El Faro. The El Faro appears to have been found found at it's last known location in one piece at a depth of about three miles (15000 ft). They plan on sending a sub to confirm the ship they've located is the Elfaro. Families of the 33 crewmates onboard may after a month of waiting finally be receiving some closure on what happened to their loved ones....