Investigators might want to launch a brand new mission to recuperate the El Faro’s voyage information recorder discovered Tuesday at a depth of 15,000 off the Bahamas.

The NTSB made the announcement Wednesday after figuring out that restoration can’t be achieved with the tools presently accessible aboard the analysis vessel Atlantis given the VDR’s proximity to the mast and different obstructions,

Video and pictures revealed that the VDR seems to stay hooked up to a metal beam related to the mast construction.

“Now that we have been able to see just how the VDR is oriented relative to the mast structure, it’s clear that we’re going to need specialized deep-water salvage recovery equipment in order to bring it up,” stated Brian Curtis, Acting Director of the NTSB Office of Marine Safety. “Extracting a recorder capsule attached to a four-ton mast under 15,000 feet of water presents formidable challenges, but we’re going to do everything that is technically feasible to get that recorder into our lab.”

Although there’s not but a confirmed timeframe for the launch of the VDR retrieval effort, investigators are hopeful that the logistics will be coordinated in order that the mission will be accomplished within the subsequent a number of months, the NTSB stated in an announcement Wednesday.

The present mission will proceed to collect imagery of the El Faro hull and particles area till efficiently accomplished. Atlantis is predicted to depart the location April 30 and arrive in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, May 5.

In October and November of 2015, the NTSB carried out an preliminary search mission to find the sunken vessel and conduct an preliminary survey of the particles area. The information collected throughout that mission was utilized by investigators to plot “high probability” search zones for the present mission, which proved dependable and resulted within the location of the mast and VDR in one of many zones.

The NTSB introduced Tuesday that the search staff, which concerned federal investigators and a staff of scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, positioned the El Faro’s lacking voyage information recorder in 15,000 toes of water about 41 miles northeast of Acklins and Crooked Islands, Bahamas.

The discover is probably going going to be a serious breakthrough within the investigation into the lack of the American cargo, assuming the VDR will be recovered and information in regards to the ship’s closing voyage will be retrieved from the machine.

The 790-foot, U.S.-flagged, cargo ship sank October 1, 2015, throughout Hurricane Joaquin whereas crusing from Jacksonville, Florida, to San Juan, Puerto Rico. All 33 crewmembers aboard have been killed within the accident.

The wreck of the vessel was first positioned on October 31, 2015 in about 15,000 toes of water within the neighborhood of its final identified place close to Crooked Island, Bahamas, however surveys of the ship confirmed that the navigation bridge construction and the deck beneath it had been separated. Later on November 11, the navigation bridge was discovered however neither the mast nor the VDR was discovered within the neighborhood. About per week later, the NTSB introduced that it was abandoning the seek for the VDR, describing the failed mission as disappointing.

In February, after sitting by way of two weeks of Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation hearings, the NTSB stated it might launch a second mission to survey the ship and find the lacking VDR.

“The voyage data recorder may hold vital information about the challenges encountered by the crew in trying to save the ship,” stated NTSB Chairman Christopher A. Hart when asserting the mission. “Getting that information could be very helpful to our investigation.”

Voyage information recorders such because the one mounted on the El Faro is able to recording conversations and sounds on the navigation bridge, which may present investigators with essential proof as they search to know the sequence of occasions that led to the sinking.