JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The captain of the 790-foot El Faro planned to bypass Hurricane Joaquin, but some kind of mechanical failure left the U.S. container ship adrift in the path of the powerful storm with 33 people aboard, the vessel's owners say.
On Monday, four days after the ship vanished, the Coast Guard concluded it sank near the Bahamas in about 15,000 feet of water. One unidentified body in a survival suit was recovered, and the search went on for any trace of the other crew members.
Survival suits help mariners float and stay warm. But even with the water temperature at 85 degrees, hypothermia can set in quickly, Coast Guard Capt. Mark Fedor said. He noted that the hurricane had winds of about 140 mph and waves topping 50 feet.
The ship, carrying cars and other products, had 28 crew members from the U.S. and five from Poland.
Coast Guard and Navy planes, helicopters, cutters and tugboats searched across a 300-square-mile expanse of Atlantic Ocean near Crooked Island in the Bahamas, where the ship was last heard from while on its way from Jacksonville to Puerto Rico.
A heavily damaged lifeboat from the El Faro was discovered with no one aboard, Fedor said. The ship had two lifeboats capable of holding 43 people each.
"We are still looking for survivors or any sign of life," Fedor said.
Also spotted were an oil sheen, cargo containers, a partly submerged life raft, life jackets and life rings, authorities said.
Phil Greene, president and CEO of ship owner Tote Services Inc., said the captain had a plan to sail ahead of the hurricane with room to spare.
Greene said the captain, whose name has not been released, had conferred with the El Faro's sister ship -- which was returning to Jacksonville along a similar route -- and determined the weather was good enough to go forward.
"Regrettably he suffered a mechanical problem with his main propulsion system, which left him in the path of the storm," Greene said.
The last message from the ship came Thursday morning, when the captain reported the El Faro was listing slightly at 15 degrees in strong winds and heavy seas.
The Coast Guard was unable to fly to the ship's last known position until Sunday because of the hurricane winds.
Anxious family members, gathered at the Seafarers union hall in Jacksonville, tried to remain optimistic, but some wondered why the ship sailed into the storm.
"What we've all questioned from the very start is why the captain would take them through a hurricane of this magnitude, or any hurricane," said Barry Young, uncle of crew member Shaun Riviera.
Fedor said the National Transportation Safety Board and Coast Guard will investigate the sinking. The Coast Guard did not immediately release safety records requested by The Associated Press for the ship and its company.
Information for this article was contributed by Curt Anderson and Ben Fox of The Associated Press.
A Section on 10/06/2015