Fears are growing for a crew of 30 people aboard a cargo ship missing off the Bahamas as Hurricane Joaquin battered the islands.
The El Faro lost contact with shore as forecasters shifted the likely track of the potentially catastrophic storm further away from the US East Coast.
The US Coast Guard said search and rescue crews were hunting for the 735-foot vessel and its 33 crew members after it was overcome by heavy weather from Joaquin off Crooked Island in the Bahamas on Thursday morning.