Coast Guard: Missing cargo ship El Faro sank

(CNN)[Breaking news update, 10:15 a.m. ET]

The U.S. Coast Guard is no longer searching for the missing cargo ship El Faro but focusing on any signs of survivors. Searchers have found life rafts and survival suits, including one survival suit with human remains, Coast Guard Capt. Mark Fedor said Monday. The body inside the survival suit was unidentifiable, he said.

[Previous story, published at 9:45 a.m. ET]

The U.S. Coast Guard believes the missing cargo ship El Faro sank, an agency spokesman told CNN. The search for the 33 people aboard continues, the Coast Guard said. Contact with El Faro was lost on Thursday.

The massive search for a container ship in the Caribbean Sea has yielded a 225-square-mile debris field, but no sign of the ship itself.

The vessel was carrying a crew of 28 Americans and five Polish nationals when it went missing near the Bahamas last week as Hurricane Joaquin, with winds blowing at 130 mph, passed over the archipelago.

El Faro, based in Jacksonville, Florida, was headed to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The U.S. Coast Guard reported Sunday evening that it had discovered the 225-square-mile debris field, which consisted of Styrofoam, wood, cargo and other items.

The announcement came hours after the agency said searchers had found "multiple items," including an oil sheen, life jackets and containers in the same search area.

The company that owns the 790-foot ship, TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico, released a statement saying that a recovered container "appears to be from the El Faro," but according to the Coast Guard, there is no confirmation at this point that it or any of the other objects belong to the missing vessel.

"We located the objects via aircraft," explained Lt. Cmdr. Gabe Somma, who also said that Coast Guard cutters were still fighting the weather as they try to get to the ship's last known position, about 35 nautical miles northeast of the Bahamas.

The Coast Guard said Sunday evening that the search teams, which also include personnel and resources from U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy, have covered more than 70,000 square miles.

Still, no sign of El Faro or of any lifeboats, according to TOTE.

"With every passing hour, the search expands. When you're searching for something in the ocean, tracking the drift patterns and dealing with weather elements -- things are moving," said Somma, describing the challenges of the search.

Chief Petty Officer Bobby Nash said search teams have had to weather 150-mph gusts, 30-foot waves and heavy rain.