Search Suspended for 5 Missing Crew After Cargo Ship Overturns During Typhoon Near Northern Mariana Islands

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands -- The search has been suspended for five missing crew members of a cargo ship that overturned near the Northern Mariana Islands during a typhoon, authorities said Wednesday. Six people were aboard the 145-foot (44-meter) ship, called the Mariana. Divers on April 21 recovered one crew member's body from the overturned ship. "The decision to suspend the search is an incredibly difficult one that is only made after very careful consideration of all available information," Cmdr. Preston Hieb of the U.S. Coast Guard Oceania District said in a video posted on X. "From working and communicating with the families, I know how devastated they are by this outcome." The search lasted more than 100 hours and covered an area larger than the state of California, he said. The search was stopped two weeks after the crew notified the Coast Guard that the ship had lost its starboard engines and needed assistance as Super Typhoon Sinlaku battered the Pacific island chain. The Coast Guard lost contact with the vessel the next day. Heavy wind hindered initial search efforts, but the overturned ship was eventually spotted April 18 about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northeast of Pagan, one of the islands that make up the Northern Marianas, which is a U.S. territory. The Coast Guard said debris included a partially submerged inflatable life raft was spotted about 110 miles (177 kilometers) from the ship. The five remaining crew members are still missing, Hieb said Wednesday. "We offer our heartfelt condolences to the families of the Mariana crew, as well as the entire Saipan community," Hieb said.