Posted on Oct 20, 2015
PO1 John Miller
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SN Greg Wright posted the original story about this ship being presumed lost at sea, and I came across an update:

http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/2015/10/19/navy-search-ship-lost-off-bahamas-during-storm/74212236/

MIAMI — A Navy vessel was expected to depart Monday on a search for a missing cargo ship that was lost in the Atlantic Ocean during Hurricane Joaquin with 33 crew members on board.

The USNS Apache will be taking equipment and investigators to an area near Crooked Island in the southeastern Bahamas in an attempt to locate the 790-foot cargo ship El Faro and retrieve its data recorder, said Christopher Johnson, for the Naval Sea Systems Command.

The Apache was leaving from Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek in Virginia and should take about two days to reach the area where teams will search for the ship in an area of about 100 square miles and a depth of 15,000 feet, Johnson said.

It's taking a towed pinger locator to find the data recorder as well as side scan sonar and a remotely operated vehicle along with investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the American Bureau of Shipping.

El Faro was on its regular cargo run from Jacksonville, Florida, to San Juan, Puerto Rico, when it lost power and began taking on water Oct. 1 in extremely rough seas churned up by the storm.
Posted in these groups: B2b4c861 MeteorologyC8005900 Sailors7e96d5b8 Coasties
Edited 9 y ago
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PO1 John Miller
PO1 John Miller
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Thanks for sharing.
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PO1 John Miller - I knew you were keeping watch and wanted you to see this ASAP.
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SN Greg Wright
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PO1 John Miller I'm still a little incensed that they gave up looking for survivors so quickly. There's a lifeboat (and several life rafts) unaccounted for, and if anyone is in those, they can stay alive for, with a little luck, a month or more. I know they can't look forever, but...I wish they'd gone longer than 3 days....
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SN Greg Wright
SN Greg Wright
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PO1 John Miller - Yeah. It's entirely feasible to go months, really. It wouldn't be comfortable, but doable. I just can't figure why they gave up so quickly.
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PO1 John Miller
PO1 John Miller
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SN Greg Wright
They may know something we don't.
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SN Greg Wright
SN Greg Wright
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PO1 John Miller - That's what I'm afraid of. Those boats would also have radios, transponders, and radar reflectors.

Sigh.
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PO1 John Miller
PO1 John Miller
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SN Greg Wright
True. Maybe they're not releasing details until family members have been notified?
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I doubt that they will find any remains of crew members, but if they can find the black box and get it back, at least there may be some answers...

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