US Suspends Search for El Faro Survivors

The U.S. Coast Guard will call off its search for potential survivors from the missing cargo ship El Faro, several media sources reported Wednesday.

The search will end Wednesday night, according to CNN, who cited family members with relatives aboard the vessel that went missing last Thursday in the powerful Hurricane Joaquin.

There were 33 aboard, including 28 U.S. citizens and five Polish nationals, when El Faro suffered engine failure and was stranded in high winds and seas up to 50 feet in the path of the storm, says the ship’s owner TOTE.

Responders have scanned the seas for days, discovering the body of one presumed crew member amid debris, but not the ship or surviving crew. 

As of Tuesday night, search crews had combed 172,257 square nautical miles in the vicinity of the ship's last known position 35 nautical miles northeast of the Bahamas.