Contractors with Phoenix International Incorporated put together a towed pinger locater 25 (TPL 25) for the El Faro salvage mission aboard USNS Apache (T-ATF 172). The ship is provided with a number of items of underwater search tools, together with a voyage knowledge recorder locator, side-scan sonar and an underwater distant operated automobile
The second stage of the search will now begin, searching for the vessel utilizing aspect scan sonar.
The USNS Apache arrived on the final identified place of the El Faro on October 23, and commenced trying to find the vessel with a Towed Pinger Locator (TPL).
The search space consists of a ten nautical mile by 15 nautical mile space, by which the USNS Apache towed the TPL on 5 search traces throughout the search space with a view to detect the acoustic sign related to the El Faro’s pinger.
The USNS Apache concluded the primary part of the pinger locator search on October 26, 2015, with detrimental outcomes.
The NTSB says that the TPL’s capability to detect the El Faro’s pinger could also be affected by the orientation of the vessel because it lays on the ocean ground or the present situation and performance of the pinger.
The second part of the search started yesterday, utilizing the Orion side-scan sonar system. The second part of the search might be performed over the identical search space. This part will include 13 search tracks and can take about 14 days to finish. The aspect scan sonar system might be used to find the El Faro, and if discovered, create a picture of the vessel.
If the ship is discovered on the ocean ground, its Voyage Data Recorder or “black box” might be retrieved to assist investigators decide the El Faro’s last moments. It is suspected that the ship sank in Hurricane Joaquin on October 1 and is mendacity on the ocean backside in 15,000 ft of water close to the Crooked Islands within the Bahamas. All 33 onboard are presumed misplaced.
OCTOBER 28, 2015 — The National Transportation Safety Board stated yesterday that searchers on board the Navy fleet ocean tug USNS Apache (T-ATF 172) had did not find the pinger of the misplaced U.S.-flag containership El Faro.
