There was a 'hull breach' on the container ship El Faro before it sank and disappeared in Hurricane Joaquin earlier this month. Captain Michael Davidson advised the ship's owner Tote that a deck hatch had blown open via a distress signal from the ship's satellite phone. According to Reuters, this was revealed Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the body investigating the accident.

Before the ship disappeared from radar, Davidson reported a "marine emergency" to the ship's owner after water entered into one of the cargo holds. According to NTSB, the captain also said that the ship's main propulsion had been lost and couldn't be restarted by the ship's engineers.