US ship lost in hurricane was undergoing engine room work

Miami

MISSING cargo ship El Faro, hit by powerful Hurricane Joaquin, was undergoing engine room work before it sank off the Bahamas and one presumed crew member is confirmed dead, the ship's owner said on Monday.

The US Coast Guard said that the search continued for at least 32 other people, most of them Americans, who were aboard the ship when it vanished in what maritime specialists are calling the worst cargo shipping disaster involving a US-flagged vessel since 1983.