MIAMI — U.S. authorities confirmed Monday that a large vessel found on the deep ocean floor off the Bahamas is the lost cargo ship El Faro, which sank with 33 mostly American crew in a hurricane last month.
The wreckage, in an upright position and intact on the ocean floor, was initially detected by a U.S. Navy salvage team over the weekend at a depth of nearly 3 miles. It was found in the vicinity of El Faro’s last known location off Crooked Island in the southeastern Bahamas, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said.
The Navy salvage tug Apache subsequently deployed a deep ocean remotely operated submersible, CURV-21, equipped with a camera to confirm the identity of the ship, officials said.
A salvage team will now seek to retrieve the ship’s voyage data recorder — similar to an airplane’s black box — which could contain vital clues for the NTSB-led investigation into what sank the El Faro.
The 790-foot El Faro disappeared on Oct. 1 on a regular weekly cargo route between Florida and Puerto Rico after the captain reported losing propulsion and taking on water. The crew included 28 Americans and five Poles.
It was the worst cargo shipping disaster involving a U.S.-flagged vessel since 1983.
Among 33 crew members lost aboard the ship were five with Maine connections: 53-year-old Capt. Michael Davidson of Windham, a 1988 graduate of Maine Maritime; Michael Holland, 25, of Wilton, a 2012 graduate of Maine Maritime; and Danielle Randolph, 34, also of Rockland and a 2004 graduate of Maine Maritime; and Dylan Meklin, 23, a 2010 graduate of Rockland District High School and a 2015 graduate of Maine Maritime Academy. Another crew member, Mitchell Kuflik of Brooklyn, New York, graduated from Maine Maritime in 2011.
The wreck is sitting in such deep water — 2,500 feet deeper than the Titanic — that it is beyond the reach of divers.
The 8-foot-long CURV-21 is designed to operate in depths up to almost 4 and has arms that can be remotely manipulated from the Apache via fiber-optic cable, said Christopher Johnson, spokesman for the Naval Sea Systems Command.
The submersible is also equipped with another, smaller remotely operated vehicle called X-Bot that can be used to enter smaller spaces if necessary, Johnson added.
Claudette Riley, sister of El Faro crew member Mariette Wright, 51, welcomed the discovery of the wreck but said the potential recovery of the data recorder “brings a whole new wave of sadness.”
She said she was afraid of what it might reveal “about how scared they all must have been.”
Riley said she and her family were not optimistic the Navy would be able to recover the remains of crew members at such a depth.
The cargo ship’s owner, Tote Inc., is facing four lawsuits filed by relatives of the crew, alleging the ship was not seaworthy and charted a course too close to Hurricane Joaquin.
Tote filed for liability protection in a federal court in Florida on Friday, citing U.S. maritime law and saying the ship was “seaworthy and properly manned” and that the company bears no responsibility for its loss.