The U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday suspended its search for five missing crew members of a 145-foot cargo vessel nearly two weeks after it was found overturned in the Pacific in the aftermath of a super typhoon.
All six crew members were lost, though one body was recovered earlier in the search.
The search for the Mariana, a U.S.-registered dry cargo vessel, was called off late Tuesday night, the Coast Guard said in a news release. The search covered more than 100 hours and 135,000 square nautical miles.
The crew reported engine failure on April 15 about 140 miles northwest of Saipan, one of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory. The distress call came after a powerful typhoon, Sinlaku, slammed the area with heavy rain and strong winds.
The Coast Guard identified the six crew members of the Mariana as Frederick L. Nosek Jr., Landon Delos Reyes, Jose L. Ramirez, Mohammed A. Rahaman, Chet R. Brochon and Vincent B. Agulto.
Rescue efforts were complicated by the extreme weather. A Coast Guard crew found the ship overturned about 34 nautical miles northeast of Pagan Island, roughly 100 nautical miles from its last reported position. Divers recovered one body from the overturned cargo vessel. That crew member was not identified.
“We are deeply saddened to announce that despite widespread efforts, we have made the difficult decision to suspend our active search for the missing crew members,” said Commander Preston Hieb of the Coast Guard’s Oceania District.
“We offer our deepest condolences to the families of the Mariana crew, as well as the entire Saipan community affected by this tragedy. “
The U.S. Navy, the Japan Coast Guard and the Royal New Zealand Air Force also took part in the search.
