Clues trickle in for missing massive U.S. cargo ship

NASSAU, Bahamas - An intensive search resumed Sunday in the southeastern Bahamas for a U.S. cargo ship with 33 people on board that has not been heard from since it lost power and was taking on water as it was battered in fierce seas churned up by Hurricane Joaquin.

Sunday afternoon the USCG Southeast sent out a tweet reporting they found a 225-square mile debris field of styrofoam, wood, cargo and other items. It is not immediately clear if the debris comes from the missing cargo ship.

U.S. Coast Guard, Navy and Air Force planes and helicopters were expected to spend the day looking for the ship across a broad expanse of the Atlantic Ocean around Crooked Island, which the ship, the 790-foot El Faro, was passing as the storm turned into a powerful Category 4 hurricane.

The U.S. Coast Guard said Sunday a shipping container was among several items located in the waters of the sprawling search area, but authorities don't yet know whether it is from the El Faro.

In a statement, the Coast Guard said: "Life jackets, life rings, containers and an oil sheen have been located by Coast Guard aircrews. The objects have not been confirmed to be from the El Faro at this time."

Chief Petty Officer Ryan Doss said swells in the search area had decreased "by quite a bit" Sunday, allowing the Coast Guard to dispatch one of its cutters.

The Coast Guard on Saturday located an orange life ring from the cargo ship before turning back at nightfall. Two other life rings were spotted in the water but not retrieved and it wasn't possible to confirm if they were from the vessel. Authorities said a container was spotted on Sunday, but it had not been established whether it came from El Faro.

The storm moved out of the Bahamas and was heading toward Bermuda. The weather had initially hampered the search, but conditions had improved enough by Sunday for the Coast Guard to dispatch one of its cutters, the Northland, to aid the aerial search.

"Our hope is that we can really saturate that area better than yesterday," Petty Officer First Class David Schuhlein, a Coast Guard spokesman.

The El Faro departed from Jacksonville, Florida on Sept. 29, when Joaquin was still a tropical storm, with 28 crew members from the United States and five from Poland. The ship was heading to Puerto Rico on a regular cargo supply run to the U.S. island territory when it ran into trouble. It was being battered by winds of more than 130 mph and waves of up to 30 feet. The crew reported it had taken on water and was listing 15 degrees but said it was "manageable," according to its owner, TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico.

The vessel carried 685 containers and had on board an EPIRB, which transmits distress signals. An initial ping was received Thursday morning, but no new ones have followed as Coast Guard helicopters and C-130 planes and Navy P-8 scan from the skies.

TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico said in a statement that it authorized the sailing "knowing that the crew are more than equipped to handle situations such as changing weather." It told family members of the crew gathered at a union hall in Jacksonville not to be discouraged by the discovery of the life ring.

Laurie Bobillot, whose daughter, Danielle Randolph, is a second mate on the El Faro, said she was trying not to lose hope after nearly four days anxiously waiting for news of the ship.

"We've got to stay positive," said Bobillot, of Rockland, Maine. "These kids are trained. Every week they have abandon ship drills."

Both she and Robin Roberts, whose stepson Mike Holland is an engineer on the El Faro, said they had faith in the skill of the ship's captain, whose name the company has declined to release.

"This is a top-notch captain. He's well-educated," Bobillot said. "He would not have put the life of his crew in danger, and would not have out his own life in danger, had he known there was danger out there. He had the best intentions. He has a family too, and he wanted to go home to them too. That storm just came up way too fast."