Yesterday, after concluding that El Faro sank in that area in about 15,000 feet of water, the United States Coast Guard said its operation would no longer be focusing on finding El Faro, but survivors.
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Hurricane Joaquin battered the Bahamas, and then turned northwest, moving away from the US coast. The call came as the hurricane paused east of the Bahamas, gathering strength and crossing the path of the ship as it turned to the north. The company has not said why the ship was traveling amid a hurricane that reached Category Four on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of intensity.
Tuesday morning, friends and relatives of El Faro crew members gathered in a conference room at a Marriott hotel in Jacksonville, Florida.
Phil Greene, president and CEO of Tote Services Inc., said the captain had a plan to sail ahead of the hurricane with room to spare.
However, an unexpected problem caused the boat to go adrift right in the path of the powerful storm.
The captain, who has 20 years of experience on cargo ships, told company officials that the crew was removing water, the AP reported.
The ship’s crew members have deep ties to Maine.
Deb Roberts, Holland’s mother, wrote on Facebook that despite Monday’s grim news, she was holding out for a miracle.
The Coast Guard is still searching for the others who were aboard the El Faro. “Prayers needed more than ever today”. It was bound for San Juan, about 1,300 miles to the southeast, but ran into the hurricane less than halfway into the trip. The ship’s last known location was about 40 miles northeast of the Crooked Islands. That was the last communication from the ship. Her mother, Laurie Bobillot, said Randolph was obsessed with the sea. On Tuesday, almost a week after she talked to her husband, she is hoping that he may still be alive.
“We believe that they still could be alive”, Somma said. Three cutters were in the water Monday morning, and search planes were flying overhead. He said students repeatedly do survival and safety drills.
“Time and money are an important thing” in the shipping industry, Nicoll said.
He acknowledged they faced steep odds against survival. Members of the Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board officials also were in the building.
“It was basically just bobbing around”, Murphy said. “I’m still hoping for the best, hoping he’s out there somewhere”. I can only imagine what those guys were going through.
Deborah Dyer, Meklin’s aunt, organized the vigil.
Union president Mike Sacco is scheduled to be at the hall, his office in Camp Springs, MD, just outside Washington D.C. said. “He told me he loved me, and that’s the last time I heard from him”, she said. The company that operated the 735-foot vessel, Tote Maritime Puerto Rico, has not released their names.
Debris from the ship was found during searches over the weekend, including life jackets, wood, containers and an oil sheen.
But “I don’t believe based on the work they were doing that they would have had anything to do with what affected the propulsion”, said Greene, a retired Navy admiral. Search efforts are continuing for possible survivors.
The Coast Guard may launch other search teams later but had not made that decision Tuesday morning.
Stay with First Coast News for the latest details in the search at sea. But when a ship of that size is in inclement weather, he said, “they are designed” to withstand conditions, he said. When the ship left, Joaquin had not yet been upgraded to a hurricane.
Members of Maine’s congressional delegation released statements offering thoughts and prayers.
But Hanson said on Saturday that Joaquin was only a tropical storm when El Faro set out from Jacksonville, but it later underwent a rapid intensification. “Our gratitude also goes to rescue teams who are risking their own lives to find those who are lost”. Davidson’s brother, Greg Davidson, said the family had no comment. “She’s my mariner, my seafarer”, Shevory said.
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They also hope to recover the data recorder that was on board.
