NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — An intensive, dawn-to-dark search yesterday turned up a life ring but no other sign of a cargo ship with 33 people on board that lost power and communications off the southeastern Bahamas during Hurricane Joaquin.

US Coast Guard and Navy aircraft covered a large expanse of the Atlantic Ocean near Crooked Island for the El Faro, which was taking on water as it was battered by massive waves at the height of the hurricane. The search was halted at nightfall and was expected to resume today.

Authorities don’t know yet what happened to the ship or whether the discovery of the life ring means that the crew were forced to abandon the ship, said Chief Petty Officer Ryan Doss, a Coast Guard spokesman in Miami.

“There are plenty of instances where things get torn off a ship in heavy winds,” Doss said. “It even happens to Coast Guard cutters.”

The life ring was spotted 120 miles (193 kilometres) northeast of Crooked Island, about 70 miles (113 kilometres) from the last known position of the El Faro before authorities lost contact with it on Thursday as Joaquin raged through that section of the Bahamas as a powerful Category 4 hurricane.

TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico, the operator of the ship, said in a statement that it told family members of the crew, who gathered at a union hall in Jacksonville, Florida, that they should not be discouraged by the discovery of the life ring and that it will help the Coast Guard with the search.

“While this reflects that the ship was caught in rough seas and extreme weather, it is in no way indicative of the ship’s fate,” the company said. “Small items such as life rings and life jackets are lost at sea frequently, particularly in rough weather.”

The El Faro was heading to San Juan, Puerto Rico from Jacksonville, Florida when it ran into trouble. It was being battered by winds of more than 130 mph and waves of up to 30 feet (9 metres). The crew reported it had taken on water and was listing 15 degrees but said it was “manageable”, according to the company. That was the last it was heard from.

The El Faro departed September 29, when Joaquin was still a tropical storm, with 28 crew members from the United States and five from Poland. The company described them as experienced and “more than equipped to handle situations such as changing weather”.

The weather has improved now that Hurricane Joaquin has moved to the northeast, away from The Bahamas on a path toward Bermuda, but high seas and heavy winds were still making it difficult to search.

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.

As the threat of the storm receded on a path that would take it away from the US mainland, people in the southeastern Bahamas were in clean-up mode.