Coast Guard responds to possible people in the water northwest of Haiti
Oct 2nd, 2015
MIAMI
— The Coast Guard is responding to a report of a 212-foot cargo ship
with 12 crew members aboard reportedly sinking 51 nautical miles
northwest of Haiti, Thursday night.
Coast Guard 7th District Command Center watchstanders received a
relay message from Her Majesty’s Coast Guard after they received an
Inmarsat satellite message stating the Bolivian-flagged cargo ship
Minouche, listing 30 degrees to port and all 12 crewmembers aboard were
making preperations to abandon ship.
The Coast Guard immediately diverted the Coast Guard Cutter Northland
and launched a helicopter crew forward deployed in Great Inagua,
Bahamas. A good Samaritan vessel and member of the Automated Mutual Assistance Vessel Rescue System, commonly referred to as AMVER, has also been diverted to the vessels last known position.
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BREAKING: American Cargo Ship ‘El Faro’ Missing with 33 Crew in Hurricane Joaquin
October 02, 2015
Contact: Coast Guard 7th District Public Affairs
Email: D07-SMB-PAMIAMI@uscg.mil
Office: (786) 367-7649
Coast Guard searching for container ship caught in Hurricane Joaquin
MIAMI - Coast Guard search and rescue crews are searching for a
container ship with 33 crewmembers aboard reported to be caught in
Hurricane Joaquin, near Crooked Island, Bahamas.
The El Faro, a 735-foot ro-ro cargo ship, was en route to San Juan, Puerto Rico, from Jacksonville, Florida. At approximately 7:30 a.m. Thursday,
watchstanders at the Coast Guard Atlantic Area command center in
Portsmouth, Virginia, received an Inmarsat satellite notification
stating the El Faro was beset by Hurricane Joaquin, 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.
Watchstanders
at the Coast Guard 7th District command center in Miami launched an
HC-130 aircrew out of Clearwater, Florida, to search for the El Faro.
At this time Coast Guard watchstanders and rescue crews have been unable
to reestablish communications with the El Faro crew.
Two Air
Force C-130 Hurricane Hunter aircrews attempted to locate and
reestablish communications with the El Faro unsuccessfully Thursday. Coast Guard crews remain on scene and will continue search efforts Friday by both air and sea.
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October 2, 2015 by Mike Schuler
MV El Faro. Photo: MarineTraffic.com/Capt. William Hoey
The U.S. Coast Guard has launched a search for a U.S.-flagged containership with 33 crewmembers aboard reported to be caught in Hurricane Joaquin, near Crooked Island, Bahamas.
The Coast Guard reported Friday that at approximately 7:30 a.m. Thursday, watchstanders at the Coast Guard Atlantic Area command center in Portsmouth, Virginia, received an Inmarsat satellite notification stating the 735-foot cargo ship El Faro was beset by Hurricane Joaquin while en route to San Juan, Puerto Rico, from Jacksonville, Florida. The notification said that 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 said.
El Faro is part of TOTE Maritime’s fleet serving in the Puerto Rican trade.
The Coast Guard has launched an HC-130 aircrew out of Clearwater, Florida to search for the El Faro and its crew. Coast Guard watchstanders and rescue crews have so far been unable to reestablish communications with the El Faro crew, the Coast Guard reported Friday morning.
Two Air Force C-130 Hurricane Hunter aircrews have also attempted to locate and reestablish communications with the El Faro but so far any attempts have been unsuccessful. Coast Guard crews remain on scene and are continuing search efforts Friday by both air and sea.
Hurricane Joaquin grew to a powerful Category 4 storm on Thursday, battering the Bahamas with torrential rain, strong winds and storm surges. On late Thursday, Joaquin was centered about 75 miles (120 km) south of San Salvador, Bahamas with maximum sustained winds of 130 miles per hour (210 kph), the National Hurricane Center said in its advisory late on Thursday.
Tim Nolan, President of TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico issued the following statement regarding the situation with the El Faro:
“On September 29, the El Faro, one of TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico’s two ships departed Jacksonville en-route to San Juan Puerto Rico. At the time of the El Faro’s departure, the vessel’s officers and crew were monitoring what was then Tropical Storm Joaquin. As of 720am EST on Thursday October 1, TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico lost all communication with the El Faro. The US Coast Guard was immediately notified and since then we have been unable to reestablish communication. There are a number of possible reasons for the loss of communications among them the increasing severity of Hurricane Joaquin.
TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico’s primary concern is for the safety and well-being of the 33 individuals on board. We are working to ensure clear and frequent communications with their families and loved ones as we learn more.
We have reached out to the families of those impacted and have established open lines of communication to provide them with timely updates. Our thoughts and prayers are with the individuals and their families.
TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico is working closely with the US Coast Guard and all available resources to establish communication by whatever means possible.”
The El Faro has been a part of Sea Star Line’s fleet serving the Jones Act trade route between the U.S. and Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Sea Star Line was previously an operating company within TOTE, Inc., but it was recently re-organized along with Totem Ocean Trailer Express, serving the Alaska market, under the TOTE Maritime brand.
The El Faro was originally built in 1975 and underwent a major overhaul in 2006. The ship was known as the Northern Lights.
Also on Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard rescued 12 crewmembers who abandoned the Bolivian-flagged cargo ship Minouche north of Haiti after the ship developed a severe list.
