SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands (AP) — Authorities found the body of one of the six missing crew members from a cargo ship that overturned near the Northern Mariana Islands during a typhoon and were searching for the rest, hoping they might have made it to a life raft.
U.S. Air Force divers used an underwater drone on Tuesday to search inside the overturned ship, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a news release. Divers from Japan’s coast guard further examined the ship, called the Mariana, but didn’t find any of the other five, it said.
“Coast Guard aircrews continue to search for the five missing crewmen and an orange 12-person life raft in the vicinity of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,” the news release said.
The National Weather Service said Super Typhoon Sinlaku, the strongest tropical cyclone this year, was packing sustained winds of up to 150 mph (241 kph) when it made landfall on the Northern Mariana Islands, which, like Guam to the south, are a U.S. territory.
The Coast Guard and partnering agencies from Guam, Japan, and New Zealand have covered more than 99,000 square miles (256,000 square kilometers) in their search for the crew, the guard said this week. That’s an area roughly the size of Oregon.
The ship notified the U.S. Coast Guard on April 15 that the U.S.-registered vessel lost its starboard engine during the typhoon and needed assistance. The guard said it lost contact with the ship the next day.
“Our hearts are with the families of the Mariana crew members and the communities impacted by this tragic incident,” Cmdr. Preston Hieb, the search and rescue mission coordinator for the Coast Guard Oceania District, said in the statement.
Heavy wind hindered initial search efforts, but the overturned ship was eventually spotted Saturday about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northeast of Pagan, one of the Northern Mariana Islands.
The U.S. Coast Guard said Monday that debris, including a partially submerged inflatable life raft, was spotted about 110 miles (177 kilometers) from the ship.
While specific safety requirements for the 145-foot (44-meter) ship were not known, federal and international codes call for cargo ships to have life rafts stocked with food and water.
The rafts have to be able to withstand exposure for 30 days, according to a code put out by the International Maritime Organization.
Sinlaku battered the Northern Mariana Islands, causing wind damage and flooding. Island ports reopened to commercial traffic this week, and the Coast Guard delivered pallets of water and supplies to areas that had been cut off.
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