The Tribune

A US Air Force C-130, deployed in the search in Bahamian waters for missing US cargo ship El Faro, landed late Sunday afternoon reporting a 225 square mile debris field of styrofoam, wood, cargo and other items.

Earlier on Sunday, according to the Associated Press, rescuers spotted floating debris and an oil sheen as US crews continued the intensive search off the southeastern Bahamas for the vessel with 33 people on board. The company that owns the ship said a container that appears to belong to the vessel had been found as well.

The ship, the 790-foot El Faro, has not been heard from since it lost power and was taking on water in fierce seas churned up by Hurricane Joaquin.

By early Sunday afternoon, the U.S. Coast Guard said its aircrews spotted "life jackets, life rings, containers and an oil sheen" in the sprawling search area but they have not yet been able to confirm whether the debris and oil is from the El Faro. On Saturday, the Coast Guard said it located an orange life ring from the cargo ship that emitted a distress ping Thursday, but then went silent.

The missing vessel's owner, TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico, said a contracted tugboat and another of its ships had found a container that appears to be from the El Faro. But "there has been no sighting of the El Faro or any life boats," company president Tim Nolan said in a statement.

U.S. Navy and Air Force planes and helicopters were helping Coast Guard crews looking for the ship across a broad expanse of the Atlantic Ocean around Crooked Island, which the El Faro was passing as the storm turned into a powerful Category 4 hurricane.