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.
WJXT reports 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 for the loss of communications, among them the increasing severity of Hurricane Joaquin," Nolan said in a statement.
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.
"The concern was they became disabled right in the vicinity of the eye of Joaquin," Coast Guard Capt. Mark Fedor said. "So they were in a very dangerous situation."
Watchstanders at the Coast Guard 7th District command center in Miami launched an HC-130 aircrew out of Clearwater, Florida, to search for the El Faro, which is one of TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico's two ships and was christened in Jacksonville in 2006.
Coast Guard watchstanders and rescue crews have been unable to reestablish communications with the El Faro crew. Fedor said it's possible the storm destroyed the ship's communications equipment.
Two Air Force C-130 Hurricane Hunter aircrews attempted to locate and reestablish communications with the El Faro unsuccessfully Thursday.
On Friday, the Coast Guard put a C-130 Hercules aircraft as close to the hurricane as possible to see if it can spot the ship. Fedor said the aircraft can fly much lower than the Hurricane Hunter aircraft, which fly at 10,000 feet to take measurements of the storm. The Coast Guard C-130 is flying at 2,000 feet, Fedor said.
"(That) is absolutely pushing the operational envelope of what they're supposed to fly, pushing their safety limits to try to lay some eyes on this vessel," Fedor said. "They're using a very sophisticated radar system to try to penetrate the precipitation and the wind and the sea state and try to locate that vessel."
They haven't spotted it yet, Fedor said, but they are working toward its last known position.
Just after 2 p.m. Friday, Coast Guard Southeast posted on Twitter that an air crew was flying into Hurricane Joaquin to search for the missing ship and its crew.
Fedor said of the 33 crew members, 28 are U.S. citizens and five are Polish nationals.
"TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico's primary concern is for the safety and well-being of the 33 individuals on board. We are working to ensure clear and frequent communications with their families and loved ones as we learn more," Nolan said. "We have reached out to the families of those impacted and have established open lines of communication to provide them with timely updates. Our thoughts and prayers are with the individuals and their families."
Nolan said TOTE is working closely with the Coast Guard and other resources to establish communication with the ship by whatever means possible.