re: Major Hurricane! Joaquin! Finally Moving Northward and OTS

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The U.S. Coast Guard reported Sunday evening that it had discovered a 225-square-mile debris field in its search for the missing container ship El Faro.

The discovery of the debris field, which was comprised of Styrofoam, wood, cargo and other items, according the Coast Guard, came only hours after searchers had found “multiple items,” including an oil sheen, life jackets and containers in the same search area.

However, at this point, there is no confirmation that any of it is from the missing Jacksonville, Florida-based vessel.

“We located the objects via aircraft,” explained Lt. Cmdr. Gabe Somma, who also said that Coast Guard cutters were still fighting the weather trying to get there.

“With every passing hour, the search expands. When you’re searching for something in the ocean, tracking the drift patterns and dealing with weather elements — things are moving,” he said, describing the challenges of the search, which he said is “very much” still a search-and-rescue mission.

The company that owns the ship, TOTE, released a statement saying that one of TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico’s ships, the El Yunque, and a contracted tugboat had reached El Faro’s last known vicinity.

“The two vessels discovered a container, which appears to be from the El Faro, and observed what appears to be an oil sheen,” a Coast Guard statement said. “At this time there has been no sighting of the El Faro or any life boats.”

The El Faro, which was carrying a crew of 28 Americans and five Polish nationals, last made contact three days ago as it was near the Bahamas. It went missing as Hurricane Joaquin, with winds blowing at 130 mph, passed over the archipelago.

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