UPDATED: U.S. Coast Guard: Finding Survivors is Our Top Priority

Photos courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard/Massachusetts Maritime Academy

Coast Guard search crews took off again at first light Tuesday morning to look for survivors. Noting that it had been nearly 120 hours since the last contact with the ship, the guard tweeted that “finding survivors (is the) top priority.”

UPDATED: Coast Guard search crews took off again at first light Tuesday morning to look for survivors. Noting that it had been nearly 120 hours since the last contact with the ship, the guard tweeted that “finding survivors (is the) top priority.”

After announcing the belief on Monday that the El Faro likely sunk, the Coast Guard has continued efforts to search for any survivors throughout the night, and will continue on Tuesday. The 735-foot container ship was headed to San Juan, Puerto Rico, from Jacksonville when it became caught in the fury of Hurricane Joaquin near Crooked Islands in the Bahamas, the U.S. Coast Guard reported. Watchstanders at the Coast Guard’s Atlantic Area command center in Portsmouth, Va., received the ship’s distress call around 7:30 a.m. Thursday. At that time, crew members said the ship had lost propulsion and had a 15-degree list.

“The crew reported the ship had previously taken on water, but that all flooding had been contained,” the Coast Guard wrote in a media release.

The El Faro had 33 crewmembers on board. Twenty-eight crewmembers are from America and five are from Poland, the Coast Guard said.

As of Monday night, Coast Guard crews from Clearwater, St. Petersburg, Key West and Virginia had searched more than 160,574 square nautical miles with assistance from the Navy and Air Force. The body of a person in a survival suit has been recovered, the guard reported. It was found in the vicinity of the ship’s last known position near Crooked Islands. Rescuers have also found life jackets, a partially submerged life raft, cargo containers and other items in the search area.

The Coast Guard said on Monday it found the body of one crew member from a U.S.-based cargo ship that sank during a hurricane off the Bahamas.

Capt. Mark Fedor said Monday that an airborne crew spotted several survival suits floating amid debris from the El Faro. Most were empty but one had a body. A helicopter crew confirmed the person was dead but had to leave the body behind to continue the search for possible survivors, according to the Associated Press.

Massachusetts Native on Cargo Ship Lost in Hurricane

Two graduates of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy were among the 33 people on El Faro, a school official confirmed on Monday. Keith Griffin graduated from the academy in 2005, and Jeffrey Mathias graduated in 1996.

Griffin’s wife, Katie, is pregnant with twins, according to WCVB.com. She said she received an email from him Wednesday night, saying he didn’t expect to get a lot of sleep because it was stormy.

Massachusetts Maritime Academy and the entire Maritime community are coming together during this tough time. RADM Francis McDonald, President of Massachusetts Maritime Academy shared these words:

“We remain hopeful that Keith Griffin MMA 2005, Jeff Mathias MMA 1996 and the entire crew of the El Faro will be found safe. In the meantime, our thoughts and prayers go out to Keith’s family, Jeff’s family and to the families of all the mariners on board. During this difficult time, we want them to know that Massachusetts Maritime Academy and the entire maritime community stands by them while the search continues.”

In addtion, Four crew members aboard the cargo ship were from Maine.

Maine’s Second District Congressman, Bruce Poliquin, released the following statement on Monday in regard to the search for El Faro crew members:

“My thoughts and prayers are with the crew members of El Faro, their families, friends and local communities, especially in Wilton, Windham, and Rockland. “While it’s devastating to learn El Faro has sunk, we must continue to hold onto hope and pray that survivors will be located and reunited with their loved ones. In English, El Faro means ‘The Lighthouse’ and it is my hope that our lighthouses will help guide our Mainers, and the crew, home.”

Coast Guard search and rescue crews continued searching in the Caribbean Sea for the El Faro cargo ship Sunday, covering a total search area of more than 70,000 square nautical miles.

“The crew reported the ship had previously taken on water, but that all flooding had been contained,” the Coast Guard wrote in a media release.

Various objects have been located in the vicinity of the ship’s last known position 35 nautical miles northeast of Crooked Islands, Bahamas. Life jackets, life rings, containers and an oil sheen were located by Coast Guard aircrews within a 225 square nautical mile search area, according to the Coast Guard. That debris has not been confirmed to be from the El Faro at this time.

Coast Guard assets involved in Sunday’s search included:

• Two HC-130 Hercules airplane from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Florida
• Coast Guard Cutter Northland, a 210-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in Portsmouth, Virginia
• An MH-60 Jayhawk from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Florida
• Coast Guard Cutter Resolute, a 210-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in St. Petersburg, Florida

Other agencies involved in the search include the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy.

HC130 aircrews headed back to the scene in search for the El Faro crew early Monday. More than 70,000 square miles searched thus far, according to the Coast Guard.

Aircrews and boat crews are not the only Coast Guardsmen to assist in the search for the missing container ship El Faro. Watchstanders have been working 24-7 gathering information regarding the missing ship.

Photo Credit: U.S. Coast Guard/photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Jon-Paul Rios