The container ship El Faro, with 28 Americans and five Poles on board, lost contact on Thursday en route to Puerto Rico from Jacksonville, FL. The ship sent out a distress call saying that she had lost power and was taking on water. Today, the Coast Guard announced that they believe the ship sank during Hurricane Joaquin.
US Coast Guard official confirms the USCG believes the "El Faro" container ship sank during the hurricane. More details at 10:00 am EDT.
— Mark Potter (@MarkPotterNBC) October 5, 2015
As of writing, no members of the crew have been discovered, but a large debris field of cargo and an oil slick consistent with El Faro were found over the weekend. The search for survivors continues. The El Faro was equipped with state-of-the-art lifeboats and abandon ship drills are conducted weekly.
A horrible tragedy. Please pray for the crew and their families.
UPDATE: Per the USCG press conference Monday at 10 EDT, one set of human remains (in a survival suit) has been discovered as well as one life raft, which was empty. The remains have not been identified as of now. The search for any survivors continues.
