Cargo ship missing as Hurricane Joaquin batters Bahamas
MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Rescue workers searched for a missing cargo ship with 33 aboard off the Bahamas Friday as Hurricane Joaquin battered the island chain, bringing life in the popular tourist destination to a drastic halt.
Contact with the El Faro was lost early Thursday as the dangerous weather system approached, and efforts to locate the vessel by air and sea have so far been unsuccessful, the US Coast Guard said.
“The crew reported the ship had previously taken on water, but that all flooding had been contained,” it said in a statement.
En route from Florida to Puerto Rico, the container ship was reported to be caught in the storm near Crooked Island, which is part of the Bahamas.
It was from there that it sent a satellite notification stating the ship had lost propulsion and had a 15-degree list.
Tim Nolan, president of the company that owns the El Faro, said the ship’s “officers and crew were monitoring what was then Tropical Storm Joaquin” when they sailed from Florida.
“There are a number of possible reasons for the loss of communications among them the increasing severity of Hurricane Joaquin,” Nolan said, adding that his company’s “primary concern is for the safety and well-being” of those aboard the ship.
The US National Hurricane Center downgraded Joaquin from a Category 4 on the five-point Saffir Simpson scale to a Category 3 storm.
Joaquin was packing still-dangerous maximum sustained winds of 125 miles (205 kilometers) per hour.
The slow-moving storm was situated some 15 miles west of San Salvador Bahamas, and some 800 miles southwest of Bermuda, the NHC said.
“On the forecast track, the core of the strongest winds of Joaquin will continue moving over portions of the central and northwestern Bahamas for a few more hours, then move away from the Bahamas,” the Miami-based forecasters said.
The storm is expected to move away from the Bahamas on Saturday, but not before dumping up to 25 inches (63.5 centimeters) of rain in some spots, the NHC said.
In the Bahamas, authorities urged caution and closed schools, government offices and banks as Joaquin approached.
Nassau’s Lynden Pindling International Airport was also closed through early Saturday, local media reported.
The storm destroyed homes, caused flooding and left hundreds without power as it tore through the islands.
The islands most affected are Long Island, Cat Island and Rum Key, where waters rose, trees and power lines were downed and residents lost power and telephone access.
“This is a lot of water… we are in dire need,” a Rum Key resident told local radio.
Authorities urged people to take shelter until the worst was over.
“It is very imperative that residents in those islands batten down,” said Basil Dean of the Bahamas Department of Meteorology.
The local power company said it would likely be unable to begin repairs until winds subside.
“This hurricane has been basically sitting over the South and Central Bahamas over the last two days… It is unfortunate, but that is the way that Mother Nature works,” Dean said.