Search Continues for Missing US Cargo Ship El Faro Caught in Hurricane Joaquin … 28 Americans Aboard Cargo Ship

The search continues for the missing US flagged cargo ship El Faro which left Jacksonville, Florida, en route to Puerto Rico on Tuesday.  According to accounts, at 7:20 a.m. Thursday, the Coast Guard said it received notification that the ship had lost propulsion and had a 15-degree list as the ship was caught in the middle of Hurricane Joaquin. There has been no communication with the ship since. There are 33 crew members aboard the cargo ship, 28 of which are Americans that is currently lost at sea.

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Search crews are continuing to look for a U.S. cargo ship caught in Hurricane Joaquin, one day after a life ring from the ship was found.

U.S. Coast Guard, Navy and Air Force planes and helicopters are looking for the El Faro across a broad expanse of the Atlantic Ocean around Crooked Island today. They resumed their efforts at first light.

The U.S. Coast Guard found a life ring Saturday – the first trace of El Faro. The discovery serves as validation that search crews are in the right area.

Two additional life rings have been found, the Coast Guard said, but it’s unclear if they belonged to the ship.

The 790-foot cargo ship vanished 72 hours ago, near the eye of Hurricane Joaquin. The ship is carrying 28 U.S. citizens, as well as five Polish nationals.

El Faro was traveling from Jacksonville, Florida to San Juan, Puerto Rico as Joaquin churned over the Atlantic Ocean. The ship sent a distress signal at 7:20 a.m. Thursday saying it had lost electricity, was taking on water and listing at 15 degrees.

UPDATE I: Search for missing cargo ship in Bahamas enters third day.

Search-and-rescue crews found three life rings in waters to the northeast of Crooked Island in the Bahamas, about 75 miles (120 km) from the ship’s last known position before it went missing, the Coast Guard said on Sunday.

The Coast Guard confirmed that one of the life rings was from the El Faro.

“Because we found a life ring doesn’t tell us anything more than that we are searching in the right area,” said Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Bobby Nash.

The Coast Guard and U.S. Air Force sent out four C-130 search and rescue planes at dawn on Sunday, and at least one Coast Guard ship was headed to the area, Nash said.