28 Americans Among Those Aboard Cargo Ship That Went Missing in Hurricane Joaquin
The U.S. cargo ship left Florida for Puerto Rico earlier this week.
— -- The Coast Guard says it is searching for a cargo ship with 33 people on board -- including 28 Americans -- that has gone missing near the Bahamas after it was caught in Hurricane Joaquin.
The U.S.-flagged El Faro, which also had five Polish nationals on board, left Jacksonville, Florida, en route to Puerto Rico on Tuesday. At 7:20 a.m. Thursday, the Coast Guard said it received notification that the ship had lost propulsion and had a 15-degree list. There has been no communication with the ship since, according to company that owns the ship, Tote Maritime.
"There are a number of possible reasons for the loss of communications among them the increasing severity of Hurricane Joaquin," Tim Nolan, president of Tote Maritime Puerto Rico, said in a statement today.
The Coast Guard said two Air Force C-130 Hurricane Hunter aircrews tried unsuccessfully to reestablish communications with the ship on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Coast Guard has released video of a different Joaquin-related rescue -– of 12 mariners who abandoned their sinking cargo ship and crowded into a life raft northwest of Haiti yesterday.
The survivors, who were hoisted aboard a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk rescue chopper, had “no major medical concerns” -– but amid 10 foot swells and 40 mph winds, the ship sank with more than $2 million worth of cargo, the USCG said.
ABC News' Erin Dooley contributed to this report.
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