By Barbara Liston

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Oct 6 (Reuters) – Deep seas will probably hamper efforts to search out the sunken U.S. cargo ship misplaced off the Bahamas throughout Hurricane Joaquin, a federal security investigator mentioned on Tuesday, as a seek for 32 lacking crew ran right into a sixth fruitless day.

National Transportation Safety Board member Bella Dinh-Zarr spoke earlier than her arrival in Jacksonville, Florida, to assist spearhead an NTSB investigation into what maritime specialists have referred to as the worst cargo transport catastrophe involving a U.S.-flagged vessel in additional than 30 years.

She mentioned the probe promised to be tough provided that the ship sank in an unknown location, presumably in 15,000-feet (4,750-meter) deep waters. Its final identified location, after departing Jacksonville final week en path to San Juan, Puerto Rico, was off Crooked Island within the Bahamas.

“It’s a big challenge when there’s such a large area of water and at such depth,” Dinh-Zarr mentioned.

Locating the wreckage of the ship is essential as it might permit investigators to retrieve the vessel’s black field voyage information recorder, which preserves the final 12 hours of engine orders and communications from the bridge.

“We hope for the best and that the ship will be recovered.” Dinh-Zarr mentioned.

On Monday, the ship’s proprietor, Tote Inc, mentioned the New Jersey-based firm would “cooperate fully” with the NTSB.

“All the information that we have will be made available to them,” mentioned Tote President and Chief Executive Officer Anthony Chiarello. “We will find out what happened.”

The NTSB will even verify the ship’s upkeep data and different paperwork, Dinh-Zarr advised reporters.

Chiarello and different firm officers have but to elucidate why the ship sailed into the identical space the place Hurricane Joaquin reached a probably catastrophic Category Four on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of depth. And there are different main, unanswered questions on what occurred to El Faro earlier than it sank.

The ship was crewed by 28 U.S. residents, in addition to 5 Polish nationals who have been contractors employed to carry out repairs and upkeep.

The NTSB will even verify the ship’s upkeep data and different paperwork, Dinh-Zarr advised reporters.

She mentioned investigators hope to search out as a lot materials as attainable amid two massive particles fields strewn with gadgets from El Faro. So far the Coast Guard has reported seeing a battered life boat, life jackets, life rings, and cargo containers, amid white polystyrene packing foam bobbing within the ocean.

The 790-foot (240-meter) ship was piled excessive with containers and likewise was weighed down with trailers and vehicles beneath deck, in keeping with Coast Guard officers.

The U.S. Coast Guard mentioned late on Tuesday that it had three vessels within the space of the El Faro’s final identified place and would proceed looking by means of the evening into Wednesday, after suspending an unproductive aerial seek for the day.

Officials have acknowledged there’s scant probability of discovering survivors given El Faro disappeared in ferocious winds and seas as much as 50 ft (15 meters) excessive. Only the physique of 1 presumed crew member has been discovered thus far.

The El Faro left Jacksonville on the evening of Sept. 29, simply after U.S. forecasters warned that then-Tropical Storm Joaquin was poised to strengthen right into a hurricane.

Its crew issued a misery name about 36 hours later, saying it had misplaced propulsion, was itemizing and had taken on water after crusing into the trail of Joaquin. It was by no means heard from once more.

Tote advised reporters in Jacksonville the vessel was present process engine room work earlier than it sank. But firm officers have mentioned they don’t consider the work was associated to a propulsion downside reported by the captain earlier than the El Faro sank.

“The contractors were on board doing some work in the engine room space, they were not performing any work on the engines,” mentioned Philip Greene, who heads the ship administration subsidiary Tote Services.

“They were doing preparatory work in order for the ship to be converted for service in the Alaska trade,” Greene mentioned.

He acknowledged at a information convention that engine failure sealed the destiny of El Faro, nonetheless, making it inconceivable to steer within the face of a brutal storm.

“I feel what’s regrettable in that is the very fact the vessel did turn into disabled within the path of the storm, and that’s what result in finally the tragedy, Greene mentioned.

(Additional reporting by Bill Trott and John Clarke in Washington, David Adams in Miami and Susan Cooper Eastman in Jacksonville; Editing by Frances Kerry and Tom Brown)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015.

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