No sign of missing British sailors as Atlantic Ocean search continues
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Version 0 of 1. Search parties have explored more than 9,000 square miles of ocean in the hunt for four British sailors who have been missing in the Atlantic Ocean since their yacht capsized last Thursday. The US coastguard said there were no plans to abandon the search, although there has so far been no sign of the sailors. Captain Anthony Popiel said: "This is a large-scale international search and we are saturating a very large and very remote area of the Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately we have had no sightings of a life raft, persons in the water, the sail boat or debris." An RAF Hercules joined the the search, which resumed after an official request from the UK government, having initially been abandoned on Sunday. US and Canadian military aircraft were already involved in the search. The Ministry of Defence said the Hercules took off from RAF Brize Norton at 5am on Wednesday and refueled in Lajes, Portugal, before flying to the search area. It is expected to be actively assisting the search by 2pm. The defence secretary, Philip Hammond, said: "The RAF's contribution to the search operation for the four missing British sailors will provide additional capability and resilience to the resumed search led by US and Canadian forces. "We all hope that the extensive resources being provided by our allies and the further support from the UK can help locate the missing yachtsmen as soon as possible." The Cheeki Rafiki disappeared from radars five days ago carrying James Male, 23, Andrew Bridge, 21, Paul Goslin, 56, and Steve Warren, 52, who were sailing in a treacherous stretch of ocean from a regatta in Antigua to Southampton. An initial air and sea search was halted on Sunday morning, when American officials said the men would not have survived longer than 20 hours. The decision prompted anger from the men's friends and relatives, who accused the US of giving up too easily and started a petition that by Wednesday had 230,000 signatures. Captain Popiel said on Wednesday: "We completed eight searches yesterday and overnight. Search conditions were excellent, with winds less than 10 knots and seas three to five feet." "No decisions have been made regarding suspension of this search. Our focus is on continuing search planning." He said: "We have two C130 aircraft from the United States and two merchant vessels on scene, activley searching right now. We had a British C130 that completed its effort earlier today." He added: "We have a US navy warship that is expected to arrive in the search area tomorrow evening." "Having spoken regularly to the families of the four men, I know this continues to be a very difficult time for them. My thoughts and prayers continue to be with those families." Goslin's wife, Cressida, said hearing the search would resume had brought "incredible" hope. She said her husband, an experienced sailor who has a coastal skipper certificate and a yacht master theory certificate, and the other men would be coping well as a team. "We have got no reason to think they didn't make it to the lifeboat," she told BBC Breakfast. "They had advanced warning that there was a problem with the boat so we think they would have been prepared to evacuate the ship." She added: "Social media and the petition have been fantastic because they have generated so much interest that lots of yachts have now headed to that area and family and other people have been contacting various merchant ships. "It has been a fantastic support – everyone has joined in and there is more activity there." |