JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -
The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed Monday the wreckage found in the ocean over the weekend is the sunken cargo ship El Faro.
The NTSB said a survey of the area continues.
The cargo ship sank Oct. 1 during Hurricane Joaquin. NTSB officials said it was found at a depth of about 15,000 feet in the vicinity of the last known position.
Sophisticated sonar equipment towed from Apache first detected images of the cargo ship using Orion, a side-scanning sonar system, at 1:36 p.m. Saturday during the fifth of 13 planned search line surveys, according to NTSB.
Specialists on Apache used CURV 21, a deep ocean remotely operated vehicle, to survey and confirm the identity of the wreckage.
Officials from TOTE Maritime, the company that owned the El Faro ship, issued a statement about the find:
"We are aware that the El Faro was located this afternoon by the Navy vessel Apache. TOTE is grateful to the Apache crew and NTSB members who have worked so hard to locate our ship. We have fully supported this search and the investigation process and we continue to keep the crew and their loved ones in our thoughts and prayers."
The target identified by Orion is consistent with a 790-foot cargo ship, which, from sonar images, appears to be in an upright position and in one piece, according to NTSB.
The NTSB said CURV 21, outfitted with a video camera, will start the documentation of the vessel and the debris field and attempt to find and recover the voyage data recorder.
NTSB said those operations are expected to take up to 15 days to complete in ideal conditions, but could take longer depending on weather and conditions encountered during the documentation process.
Maritime expert and attorney Rod Sullivan said investigators should be able to get more clues about the ship once the remote operated vehicle is lowered into the ocean.
"This vessel is 3 miles deep, so it's going to be quite a chore," Sullivan said. "But I think what they'll do is they'll put cameras on it. They'll attempt to determine whether the cargo shifted and fell before the ship rolled over. If the cargo shifted, that indicates the ship likely rolled over and sank. They'll be looking for cracks in the hull and trying to determine if they can find what they call the black box."
Sullivan said the black box will not have a great amount of material on it, because it is an older ship.
"It will have recordings of VHS transmissions. It will have recordings of what was said on the bridge," Sullivan said. "It will tell you the course and the speed of the ship at any one particular time."
He said the black box or data recorder will also indicate how long the power was out before the ship actually sank and may indicate what the master and mate of the ship said to each other that was not transmitted over the airways.
Sullivan believes remains will not be recovered.
"Unfortunately at this depth, it's really not possible to recover remains," Sullivan said. "This remote operated vehicle is too large to fit through the doors of the El Faro. If it ever got through a door, it wouldn't be able to turn around and go down the passage ways. The possibility of recovering remains is virtually none."
He also believes crews will not try to raise the ship. He says there is an immense amount of pressure that deep in the ocean.
TOTE Maritime has filed a federal complaint to limit its liability.
TOTE Maritime is offering to put $15,309,003.50 into a fund that can be distributed to anyone who has a claim arising from the loss of the ship.
Federal maritime law allows this limitation of liability. However, the dollar amount set by the court could be different.
Court documents show cargo owners paid $2,072,703.50 to TOTE to transport the cargo.
"I think in this case it's unlikely they'll be able to limit their liability," Sullivan said. "But if they do, it's limited to $15 million for the family of the crew members, which is a substantial amount of money."
Sullivan said he expects the family of every crew member on board to file a claim. He spoke on "The Morning Show" about what he thinks TOTE Maritime's defense will be.
"They're going to argue that it was all the captain's fault -- that they did absolutely nothing wrong. They sent a sea-worthy vessel out to sea with an experienced captain and the captain made all the mistakes that caused the ship to sink," Sullivan said. "I don't think that particular defense is a good defense, but I think that's what you'll hear from them."
The ship's 28 American crew members and five Polish nationals are presumed dead.
A Miami law firm announced it will file a lawsuit on behalf of the Polish crew members on Monday. More details will be available after 4 p.m
Invitation to the 2016 Houston International Seafarers' Centers Chaplain School