Story highlights Jacksonville-based cargo ship with 33 people, including 28 Americans, lost contact Thursday

Coast Guard locates debris field Sunday in vicinity of El Faro's last known position in Caribbean Sea

Ship company president says many of missing crew members have ties to Jacksonville

(CNN) The U.S. Coast Guard reported Sunday evening that it had discovered a 225-square-mile debris field in the Caribbean Sea during its search for missing container ship El Faro.

The Jacksonville, Florida-based El Faro, which was carrying a crew of 28 Americans and five Polish nationals on its way to San Juan, Puerto Rico, went missing near the Bahamas last week as Hurricane Joaquin, with winds blowing at 130 mph, passed over the archipelago.

Sunday's discovery of the debris field, which consisted of Styrofoam, wood, cargo and other items, according the Coast Guard, came only 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 missing 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 trying to get to the vicinity of the ship's last known position, about 35 nautical miles northeast of the Bahamas.

Read More