Navy To Search For Cargo Ship Sunk Off Bahamas

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MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) - The U.S. Navy is entering the search for a Jacksonville-based cargo ship which sank off the Bahamas during Hurricane Joaquin.

The El Faro, with 33 crew members aboard, is believed to have gone down in about 15,000 feet of water near Crooked Island in the southeastern Bahamas at the height of the storm. It was carrying cars and retail goods from Jacksonville to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

On Monday the USNS Apache, which is carrying search equipment and investigators for an effort, departs Virginia to go in search of the ships data recorder.

Naval Sea Systems Command spokesman Chris Johnson said the Apache, which will leave from the Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, will take about two days to in reach the search area.

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