PORT FOURCHON, La. — Households anxiously awaited information of the 12 folks lacking from a capsized oil trade vessel Thursday whereas divers looking for survivors knocked on the ship’s hull with out response.

Rescuers do not know whether or not any of the lacking may be caught contained in the elevate boat known as the Seacor Energy that flipped over Tuesday in hurricane-force winds and excessive seas about 8 miles (13 kilometers) off the coast of Louisiana, Coast Guard spokesmen stated.

“There’s the potential they’re nonetheless there, however we do not know,” Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Lally stated Thursday. “We’re nonetheless looking for 12 folks as a result of there are 12 nonetheless lacking.”

The Coast Guard stated on Twitter that divers have been in a position to conduct operations Thursday however did not hear something after they knocked on the ship’s hull. The Guard stated dive operations have been over and would resume Friday. They may proceed to go looking in a single day by air and sea.

A handful of the lacking employees’ household gathered at a two-story hearth station at Port Fourchon, a sprawling port the place a lot of the trade that providers the oil rigs within the Gulf of Mexico relies.

Staff from throughout Louisiana and different components of the nation arrive on the port to load up on the fleet of helicopters and ships that take them to the oil rigs miles out for lengthy stretches of labor. The flat panorama is punctuated by cranes the place cargo may be loaded or unloaded and docks or hangers to make repairs.

In a close-by harbor, shrimping boats have been docked, and fishing camps stood raised on stilts to guard them from incoming storms.

Marion Cuyler, who’s engaged to crane operator Chaz Morales, spoke to reporters Thursday exterior the hearth station after briefings by executives with boat proprietor Seacor and the Coast Guard. She stated she believes all 12 lacking persons are on the vessel.

Cuyler wavered between optimism and concern as she spoke however held out hope that Morales was in part of the ship that had air after the accident and could be rescued alive.

“Hopefully, they’re multi functional room, and so they can simply rescue all of them in sooner or later,” she stated.

She stated she and different relations are pissed off and need solutions about why the boat went out within the first place.

“I requested, ‘Who gave the orders’ and naturally — silence,” she stated. Cuyler stated she’d advised her husband-to-be that he should not be going out in such climate. “And he knew they should not have been going out.”

A complete of six folks have been rescued Tuesday when the ship capsized, and the Coast Guard Thursday launched new particulars of how the rescue unfolded. The crew of a Coast Guard ship that answered the ship’s misery sign, arriving about 5:10 p.m. Tuesday, noticed 5 males clinging to the hull, stated Petty Officer third Class Carlos Galarza.

A helicopter crew from Bristow, a marine firm, lowered life vests and VHF radios to them, he stated. Two of the lads dropped into the water and have been picked up by the Coast Guard. About the identical time, Good Samaritan vessels rescued 4 different folks, he stated. The Coast Guard was additionally in a position to speak to the three folks nonetheless on the ship’s hull utilizing the radios that had been dropped. Later Tuesday evening the Coast Guard was notified that one individual had fallen within the water and wasn’t seen once more.

Shortly earlier than 10 p.m., the 2 remaining folks advised the Coast Guard they have been going again inside, and that was the final time the Coast Guard spoke with them, Galarza stated.

On Thursday, Coast Guard members in a ship made their strategy to inside just a few yards of the capsized vessel and tried throwing a hammer on the hull in an try and make contact with potential survivors, the company stated.

One individual’s physique was recovered from the water Wednesday as searchers scanned an space roughly the dimensions of Hawaii, the Coast Guard stated. The Coast Guard stated it had been categorized as a “main marine casualty” with the Nationwide Transportation Security Board becoming a member of the investigation.

The Lafourche Parish Coroner’s Workplace recognized the useless man as David Ledet, 63, of Thibodaux — a city in southeastern Louisiana the place many individuals work within the oil trade.

“Capt. Dave was superior,” Joshua Segura, a mate and crane operator, stated on Fb. He stated he had labored with Ledet earlier than transferring to a different offshore firm, describing him as one of many nicest and most humble folks he is met.

“Captain David has been on that boat over 15 years and is without doubt one of the most skilled captains I’ve ever labored with,” he wrote.

A part of the overturned ship’s hull and one in every of its legs have been nonetheless seen, leaving many of the cumbersome vessel underwater, in an space 50 to 55 toes (15 to 17 meters) deep, in keeping with the Coast Guard. The ship has three lengthy legs designed to achieve the ocean flooring and elevate the boat out of water as an offshore platform.

The vulnerabilities of elevate boats in storms have been identified for years, and federal authorities have investigated a number of deaths on them. 4 folks on board the Trinity II died in September 2011 within the Gulf of Mexico when giant waves struck its hull. Then in July 1989 a elevate boat sank off the coast of Louisiana in storms related to Hurricane Chantal. Ten of the 14 folks on board died.

Coast Guard Capt. Will Watson stated winds have been 80 to 90 mph (130 to 145 kph) and waves rose 7 to 9 toes excessive (2.1 to 2.7 meters) when the Seacor Energy overturned.

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Martin reported from Atlanta. Photographer Gerald Herbert contributed to this story from Grand Isle, Louisiana, and reporters Janet McConnaughey and Rebecca Santana contributed from New Orleans.