The El Faro is a U.S.-flagged cargo ship that sank on October 1, 2015, while sailing from Jacksonville, FL, to San Juan, Puerto Rico during Hurricane Joaquin. All 33 crew members were killed. Back in November, the wreck was discovered near Crooked Islands in the Bahamas, but the ship's navigation bridge and Voyage Data Recorder (VDR) were missing. The VDR could potentially shed some light on the El Faro's final moments. And now it has been found. Stern of the El Faro wreck. Photo courtesy NTSB On Tuesday April 26, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported the missing VDR had been found in 15,000 feet of water, about 41 miles northeast of Acklins and Crooked Islands, Bahamas. After examining images provided by undersea research equipment, the VDR was positively identified. Now the challenge will be recovering it. The El Faro's VDR is located almost 3 miles beneath the surface, off the coast of the Bahamas. Photo courtesy NTSB According to GCaptain, the type of VDR mounted on El Faro is capable of recording conversations and sounds on the ship’s navigation bridge, which could provide investigators with key evidence as they seek to understand the sequence of events that led to the sinking. https://youtu.be/Z_tyxF4kLnE The research ship, Atlantis, is now returning to Massachusetts. The ship is owned by the U.S. Navy and operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The next steps in the continuing investigation will be to determine how the VDR can be retrieved and whether data can be extracted from it. To listen to final audio communications aboard the El Faro, click to gcaptain.com/el-faros-final-communications-played-at-hearing