NTSB: Navy will find sunken ship, locate key data recorder

October 9, 2015 at 12:27 a.m. | Updated October 9, 2015 at 12:27 a.m.

by Associated Press

Evangelist Barbara Ward, center, speaks during a candlelight vigil for the sunken cargo ship El Faro, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015, in Jacksonville, Fla. U.S. safety investigators say the U.S. Navy soon will set out to find El Faro, sunk in Hurricane Joaquin. (Will Dickey/The Florida Times-Union via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT
Evangelist Barbara Ward, center, speaks during a candlelight vigil for the sunken cargo ship El Faro, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015, in Jacksonville, Fla. U.S. safety investigators say the U.S. Navy soon will set out to find El Faro, sunk in Hurricane Joaquin. (Will Dickey/The Florida Times-Union via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - U.S. safety investigators say the U.S. Navy soon will set out to find the cargo ship sunk in Hurricane Joaquin and locate a data recorder critical to determining why it went down.

National Transportation Safety Board vice chair Bella Dinh-Zarr told reporters Thursday the Navy would use sonar and other means to find the 790-foot El Faro on the sea floor. The ship sank in about 15,000 feet of water Oct. 1 with 33 people aboard east of the Bahamas.

The Coast Guard called off a search for possible survivors Wednesday.

Dinh-Zarr said assuming the ship is found, Navy remote-controlled diving vehicles would be able to bring the data recorder to the surface. Dinh-Zarr said there was no definite timetable yet for the Navy work to begin.

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