JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Searches resumed Tuesday as the U.S. Navy attempted to locate the sunken El Faro ship, document the wreckage and debris field and recover the missing voyage data recorder.
All searches were temporarily called off as Tropical Storm Kate neared the Bahamas.
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The National Transportation Safety Board announced earlier that the storm was too close to the area where the freighter sank to continue the recovery effort, but the search resumed Tuesday after the weather cleared.
The sunken cargo ship did partially break up and the navigation bridge and deck below it separated from the vessel.
The El Faro is in an upright position and the stern is buried in approximately 30 feet of sediment. As of Tuesday the recorder, bridge and deck have not been located.
The Curve 21, a remote operated vehicle (ROV) was used to confirm the vessel found was the El Faro. The ROV documented both the port and starboard sides of the vessel, the NTSB said Tuesday.
The Navy plans to redeploy the Orion side scan sonar system to generate a map of the debris field to locate the navigation bridge.
The 790-foot ship left port in Jacksonville heading for Puerto Rico but went down Oct. 1 near the Bahamas as Hurricane Joaquin tore through the area. All 33 crew members on board are presumed dead.