USCG: Body Found in Search for Ship Sunk in Hurricane
The U.S. Coast Guard on Monday said its crews had found a body and an empty, heavily damaged lifeboat in their search for the cargo ship El Faro, believed to have sunk after going missing off the Bahamas in Hurricane Joaquin.
Rescuers are no longer looking for the ship, which sent a distress call four days ago after getting caught in the powerful storm's ferocious winds and 50-foot seas, Coast Guard Captain Mark Fedor said.
He said aircrews continued to search for the missing crew - 28 U.S. citizens and five Polish nationals - but acknowledged they had faced tough odds in the storm's dangerous conditions.
"We are still looking for survivors, any signs of life," he told reporters in Miami.
Crews were unable to identify the body, discovered wearing a survival suit on Sunday, Fedor said.
The recovered lifeboat was one of two from the ship, each with a capacity for 43 people.
On Sunday, the Coast Guard spotted two large debris fields littered with items identified as coming from El Faro, including styrofoam, cargo doors and 55-gallon drums.
The 735-foot (224-meter) container ship had left Jacksonville, Florida on Tuesday, for San Juan, Puerto Rico.
On Thursday, it reported losing propulsion, listing and taking on water after sailing into the path of Joaquin off Crooked Island in the Bahamas, according to the owner, Tote Maritime Puerto Rico.
The Coast Guard said the ship had not been heard from since it sent a distress call Thursday morning.
(By Zachary Fagenson, Reporting by Susan Cooper Eastman in Jacksonville, Florida and David Adams in Miami; Writing by Colleen Jenkins)