Search for El Faro's recorder underway after ship's bridge is located

MIAMI -- The National Transportation Safety Board says a search has turned up the bridge deck of a cargo ship that sank last month with 33 crew members off the Bahamas after encountering Hurricane Joaquin.

The NTSB said Thursday that the search continues by Navy remote underwater vehicles for the EL Faro's voyage data recorder or "black box" that is attached to the bridge deck.

A remotely operated, deep ocean vehicle called CURV-21 will use its video camera to document the wreckage and debris field, as well as attempt to locate and recover the data recorder - the ship's "black box." That recorder would have captured the crew's conversations on the bridge as well as information about the ship's equipment, including engine performance and rudder movements.

Sonar images of the ship have found that it came to rest on the ocean floor in an upright position making the search for the voyage data recorder less of a challenge.

Salvage teams will not attempt to retrieve any cargo. The El Faro sank to a depth greater than where the Titanic sank which was 12,500 feet in the Atlantic Ocean.

There is a possibility that some of the crew will be found during the search. "If human remains are encountered, an attempt would be made to recover them," NTSB spokesman Peter Knudsen said earlier in November.

The El Faro disappeared Oct. 1 after its captain called in saying the ship had lost engine power, was listing and was taking on water. The ship was on its normal run between Jacksonville, Florida, and Puerto Rico when it ran into the hurricane while attempting to avoid the powerful storm.