Search Resumes For El Faro's Black Box

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The search resumed Monday for the El Faro's black box. It was an aging cargo ship lost at sea in October as it attempted to make it to Puerto Rico during a hurricane.

The secret of what sank the El Faro, killing 33 people, may be resting undersea. The 40-year-old ship was found in November, two days after leaving Florida, off the coast of the Bahamas. It sank in an October hurricane; the cause remains a mystery.

Baltimore County native Frank Hamm went down with the ship.

"There's a lot of questions being asked but no one is receiving the answers," said his daughter, Destiny Sparrow.

Now the NTSB is resuming its search for the ship's black box data recorder---perhaps the best chance survivors and investigators have at finding out what happened to doom the ship.

This is the second time they've looked for the data box. A research vessel will be at the accident site for 10 days, sending a small underwater vehicle below to search for the recorder.

On the El Faro, it's mounted on the main mast, just ahead of the exhaust stack. That whole section broke off and has not yet been found.

"At the end of the day, you want to bring answers back, bring closure to the families," said an official.

After the accident, the sister ships to the El Faro were inspected and found to have numerous safety problems.