Federal investigators head to Florida to probe ship lost in hurricane

By Barbara Liston JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Reuters) - Deep waters may complicate efforts to find out what happened to a U.S. container ship lost at sea during Hurricane Joaquin, a federal safety investigator said on Tuesday, as a search and rescue mission for 32 missing crew stretched into a sixth day. A National Transportation Safety Board team headed for Jacksonville, Florida, where the El Faro departed from last week en route to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The ship disappeared in what maritime experts have called the worst cargo shipping disaster involving a U.S.-flagged vessel in more than 30 years. NTSB member Bella Dinh-Zarr said the investigation would be difficult given the ship sank in an unknown location, possibly in 15,000-feet (4,750-meter) deep waters. Its last known location was off Crooked Island in the Bahamas. "It's a big challenge when there's such a large area of water and at such depth," Dinh-Zarr said. "We hope for the best and that the ship will be recovered." On Monday, ship owner Tote Inc said the vessel was undergoing engine room work before it sank off the Bahamas. The U.S. Coast Guard said the body of one presumed crew member was recovered. The Coast Guard is still searching for the others who were aboard the El Faro. The ship was crewed by 28 U.S. citizens, as well as five Polish nationals who were members of a so-called "riding gang" commonly hired to perform repairs and maintenance. But officials have acknowledged there is scant chance of finding survivors given El Faro disappeared in ferocious winds and seas up to 50 feet (15 meters) high. On Monday, Coast Guard officials said they were no longer looking for the ship after debris was recovered from the sea. But investigators will hope to retrieve the ship's black box voyage data recorder which preserves the last 12 hours of engine orders and communications from the bridge. The box, usually located near the rear part of the bridge, will have to be recovered by a remotely operated vehicle, according to Kelly Sweeney. Sweeney is a master mariner, the highest rank of ship’s captain, who also writes about the industry. The NTSB will also check the ship's maintenance records and other paperwork, Dinh-Zarr told reporters before her team left Washington for Florida. She said investigators hope to find as much material as possible amid two large debris fields strewn with items from El Faro. So far the Coast Guard has reported seeing a life raft, life jackets, life rings, and cargo containers, amid white polystyrene packing foam bobbing in the ocean. The 790-foot (240-meter) ship was piled high with containers and also was weighed down with trailers and automobiles below deck, according to Coast Guard officials. Tote Services President Philip Greene said he did not think the engine room work was linked to a propulsion problem reported by the ship's captain. The company has not said why the ship was traveling amid a hurricane that reached Category Four on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of intensity. The El Faro left Jacksonville on the night of Sept. 29 just as U.S. forecasters said hurricane Joaquin was forming in the Bahamas. Its crew issued a distress call 36 hours later, saying it had lost propulsion, was listing and had taken on water after sailing into the path of Joaquin. It was never heard from again. (Additional reporting by Bill Trott and John Clarke in Washington, David Adams in Miami and Susan Cooper Eastman in Jacksonville Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Frances Kerry)