Community Corner
Breaking: Coast Guard to End Search For El Faro Survivors, Families Say
El Faro likely sunk during Hurricane Joaquin. The Coast Guard has searched for survivors for days.
The Coast Guard has told family members it is ending its search for 33 missing crew members from a U.S. cargo ship that sank last week during Hurricane Joaquin, according to the Associated Press.
The father of a missing crew member said the Coast Guard will end its search for survivors from the El Faro at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Robert Green, father of LaShawn Rivera, said the Coast Guard informed relatives Wednesday afternoon.
Find out what's happening in Back Bayfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Coast Guard search crews have been searching for surviors for days look for survivors.
Tuesday morning that it had been nearly 120 hours since the last contact with the ship, the guard tweeted that “finding survivors (is the) top priority.”
Find out what's happening in Back Bayfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The El Faro had 33 crewmembers on board. Twenty-eight crewmembers are from America and five are from Poland, the Coast Guard said.
The family members both told CNN the Coast Guard relayed the news to them at a Wednesday afternoon meeting.
“The news came after a friend of the captain told CNN that Michael Davidson was a capable and experienced mariner who likely believed he had a good plan to avoid Joaquin when he and 32 other crew members departed Florida for Puerto Rico last week,” CNN reported.
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.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
