The United States Coast Guard has temporarily called off its search for the missing crewmembers of the El Faro, a cargo vessel that disappeared near Bermuda late last month, around the same time Hurricane Joaquin was evolving into a Category 3 storm. While the expedition has been suspended for the time being, authorities have discovered information about the ship's fate, including a life ring with the ship's name on it and a debris field including an oil sheen in the Bahamas.
A timeline of the search from the Boston Herald shows the rate of deployment, with helicopter and airplane crews joining the mission the Friday after the vessel had vanished. The El Faro is now believed to have sank in 15,000 feet of water, after departing en route to Puerto Rico.
In addition, CNN recently spoke with former crewmembers who seem to believe the vessel was unfit for service. According to these workers, the ship had drainage and leakage issues, as well as being considered a "rust bucket." In spite of this, the source heard from ship owners Tote Maritime, who vouched for the ship's seaworthiness.
"The El Faro was a well-maintained vessel, classed by the American Bureau of Shipping and regularly inspected by that classification society and the (U.S. Coast Guard)," the company said. "It also added that it "has great confidence in its highly experienced officers."
Companies that write insurance for commercial divers and other aspects of the salvage process will have the prior knowledge to make major investigations easier. When there's a lot of work to be done, the risk level could be higher than usual.