Posted:
October 16, 2015
The following is excerpted from an article published online by the U.S. Naval Institute.
The following is the complete Oct. 15, 2015 statement from NAVSEA (Naval Sea Systems Command) on the search for El Faro.
The National Transportation Safety Board has asked the U.S. Navy to assist in the search for the missing U.S. flagged merchant vessel El Faro. To support this effort, the Navy is deploying a deep-water search and salvage team embarked aboard the fleet ocean tug USNS Apache (T-ATF-172). The ship will be equipped with several pieces of underwater search equipment, including a voyage data recorder locator, side-scan sonar, and an underwater ROV. Once deployed, the Navy will focus its search northeast of Crooked Island in the Bahamas island chain, which is the last known location of the vessel.
The Navy will begin loading equipment aboard Apache in Little Creek, Va., on Thursday, Oct. 15. Load-out will take approximately four to five days, after which point the ship will deploy to the search area. Transit to the search area will take approximately two days.
The initial search area is 100 square miles, and we estimate water depth to be 15,000 feet across the expected search area. We estimate we will remain in the area until mid-November.
El Faro had 33 people on board, including 28 American citizens. The last known communication with the ship was on October 1st.
The U.S. Navy operates some of the world's most advanced underwater search and salvage systems, so we are uniquely qualified to perform this type of mission. Though our equipment is typically used to search and recover downed military ships and aircraft, the Navy has a long history in assisting other federal agencies in underwater search and salvage operations, including the search and recovery of TWA 800 and the space shuttle Challenger. In 2013, the Navy assisted the government of Australia in its search for missing Malaysian Airliner MH 370.
U.S. Navy assisting NTSB in effort to locate El Faro
The following is excerpted from an article published online by the U.S. Naval Institute.
The following is the complete Oct. 15, 2015 statement from NAVSEA (Naval Sea Systems Command) on the search for El Faro.
The National Transportation Safety Board has asked the U.S. Navy to assist in the search for the missing U.S. flagged merchant vessel El Faro. To support this effort, the Navy is deploying a deep-water search and salvage team embarked aboard the fleet ocean tug USNS Apache (T-ATF-172). The ship will be equipped with several pieces of underwater search equipment, including a voyage data recorder locator, side-scan sonar, and an underwater ROV. Once deployed, the Navy will focus its search northeast of Crooked Island in the Bahamas island chain, which is the last known location of the vessel.
The Navy will begin loading equipment aboard Apache in Little Creek, Va., on Thursday, Oct. 15. Load-out will take approximately four to five days, after which point the ship will deploy to the search area. Transit to the search area will take approximately two days.
The initial search area is 100 square miles, and we estimate water depth to be 15,000 feet across the expected search area. We estimate we will remain in the area until mid-November.
El Faro had 33 people on board, including 28 American citizens. The last known communication with the ship was on October 1st.
The U.S. Navy operates some of the world's most advanced underwater search and salvage systems, so we are uniquely qualified to perform this type of mission. Though our equipment is typically used to search and recover downed military ships and aircraft, the Navy has a long history in assisting other federal agencies in underwater search and salvage operations, including the search and recovery of TWA 800 and the space shuttle Challenger. In 2013, the Navy assisted the government of Australia in its search for missing Malaysian Airliner MH 370.