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| Maine Maritime Academy students attend a vigil of hope for the missing crew members of the U.S. container ship El Faro, Tuesday evening, Oct. 6, 2015, in Castine, Maine. The Coast Guard has concluded the vessel sank near the Bahamas during Hurricane Joaquin. |
JACKSONVILLE,
Fla. (AP) -- The Coast Guard officially ended its search
Wednesday for the missing crew members from a U.S. cargo ship that sank
off the Bahamas during Hurricane Joaquin.
Petty Officer Mark Barney said the search for survivors from the El Faro ended at 7 p.m.
Earlier
Wednesday, the Coast Guard broke the news to grieving family members
that it was abandoning the search for the 33 mariners and investigators
turned their attention to finding the vessel's data recorder 3 miles
down at the bottom of the sea.
An intensive
search by air and sea over tens of thousands of square miles turned up
one unidentified body in a survival suit and a heavily damaged lifeboat
but no sign of survivors from the 790-foot El Faro, which was last heard
from nearly from a week ago as it was being tossed around in rough
seas.
By preparing to end its search at
sunset, the Coast Guard all but confirmed family members' worst fears -
that all hands were lost. On board were 28 crew members from the U.S.
and five from Poland.
"Any decision to suspend a search is painful," Coast Guard Capt. Mark Fedor said. "They did all they could."
Even before the announcement, hopes of finding anyone alive were fading.
"The
ship went down. And there's no questioning the outcome of that. The
ship has gone down, took everybody with it. There's really no
speculation to be made," said Mary Shevory, mother of crew member
Mariette Wright.
Robert Green, father of
LaShawn Rivera, held out hope despite the Coast Guard decision:
"Miracles do happen, and it's God's way only. I'm prayerful, hopeful and
still optimistic."
President Barack Obama
promised the "full support of the U.S. government" as officials
investigate the sinking of the cargo ship. In a statement issued
Wednesday evening, Obama said the families of the crew members lost at
sea deserve answers, and those who work at sea must be kept safe.
The
El Faro went down in 15,000 feet of water east of the Bahamas last
Thursday after losing propulsion while attempting to outrun Joaquin
along the ship's regular route from Jacksonville to Puerto Rico,
according to ship owner Tote Maritime and the Coast Guard. The captain
reported the ship was listing and taking on water through an open hatch.
Then transmissions ceased.
The key to the
mystery of what caused the ship to stall and sink may be in the voyage
data recorder, similar to the "black box" on an airliner. The device,
presumably pinging away in the blackness and crushing pressure on the
sea floor, has a battery life of 30 days after it hits the water.
Assuming
the device can be located, the National Transportation Safety Board
will work with the Coast
Guard, Navy and other agencies to devise a way
to bring it up, probably using a remote-controlled, unmanned submersible
capable of diving great depths.
Among the
questions raised in the wake of the tragedy: What caused the ship to
lose power? Did pressure to deliver the cargo on time play a role in the
captain's decision to press ahead? Was the ship's advanced age - more
than 40 years old - a factor? And was the mechanical trouble caused by
work that was being done in the engine room at the time?
The
recorder, required for all large ships since 2002, would contain radio
communications, command discussions on the bridge, the ship's speed and
heading, the condition of its hull, wind speed and radar readings.
Generally the recorders retain information from the 12 hours before they
enter the water.
"We want to find every bit
of information that we possibly can," NTSB vice chair Bella Dinh-Zarr
said. "We will be here as long as it takes."
The
ship left Jacksonville on Sept. 29 while Joaquin was still a tropical
storm. Joaquin quickly developed into a powerful Category 4 hurricane,
but Tote officials say its captain, Michael Davidson, had an acceptable
plan to bypass the storm that would have worked had the ship not lost
power amid 140 mph winds and 50-foot waves.
The
NTSB said a key part of the investigation is learning how to prevent
similar tragedies. Family members said they hope so, too.
"I
am hoping other companies will take a good look at when they're going
to ship out, when they're going to set sail," Shevory said. "And not do
it with a storm coming that can potentially become a hurricane."
