It was announced from the (US) National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in Washington on 31 October that a search team on board the USNS Apache has found the wreckage of a vessel that they believe to be the cargo ship El Faro, which went missing on 1 October during Hurricane Joaquin. The vessel was located at a depth of about 15,000 feet in the vicinity of her last known position.

Sophisticated sonar equipment towed from Apache first detected what are
believed to be images of the vessel using Orion, a side-scanning sonar system,
at about 1336 ET on 31 October during the fifth of 13 planned search line surveys.

To confirm the finding, specialists on Apache will use CURV 21, a deep ocean remotely operated vehicle, to survey and confirm the identity of the wreckage. This survey was due to commence on 1 November.