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Missing yacht: 'Wreckage of Cheeki Rafiki found' in North Atlantic ocean Missing yacht: Wreckage of Cheeki Rafiki found in North Atlantic ocean
(35 minutes later)
The hull of missing yacht the Cheeki Rafiki has reportedly been found in the North Atlantic Ocean hours before the search was due to be called off. The upturned hull of the missing yacht Cheeki Rafiki has been found in the North Atlantic ocean as the search for its crew continues.
A spokesman from the US coastguard told the BBC a surface swimmer had identified the name on the back of the boat but was unable to go inside. A specially-trained rescue swimmer, put into the water from a US Navy helicopter, was able to see the name of the capsized boat but was unable to get inside. The swimmer did, however, knock on the hull of the yacht but received no response.
The windows were smashed and it appeared to be flooded. The wreckage had originally been spotted during searches on Saturday, a day after the yacht disappeared.
The search for the British yacht was due to be called off on Saturday morning as hope waned for its crew. In a statement, the US Coast Guard said after diverting a vessel to check the wreckage: “US Navy warship helicopter crew located the overturned hull of the Cheeki Rafiki 1,000 miles offshore of Massachusetts.
Anthony Popiel, chief of response at the US Coast Guard, said: "I informed the family that the search would continue throughout the night and into [Friday]. If by midnight [on Friday] there are no further developments to indicate search efforts would locate the crew alive we will suspend the search." “The surface swimmer confirmed the name on the ship was Cheeki Rafiki and went in the water to investigate further. The swimmer determined the boat's cabin was flooded and windows were shattered, contributing to the complete flooding inside.
The missing sailors - 22-year-old captain Andrew Bridge and crew members James Male, 23, Steve Warren, 52, and Paul Goslin, 56 - were travelling back from a regatta in Antigua on 16 May, before running into difficulty 620 miles off Cape Cod, Massachusettes. From left to right: Paul Gosling, James Male, Steve Warren and Andrew Bridge who are missing after the yacht ‘Cheeki Rafiki’ capsized in the mid-Atlantic Ocean
From left to right: Paul Gosling, James Male, Steve Warren and Andrew Bridge who are missing after the yacht ‘Cheeki Rafiki’ capsized in the mid-Atlantic Ocean A call was sent by the Southampton-based crew telling Stormforce, their managing agent in England, that they had begun taking on water and would be diverting to the Azores. “The swimmer also knocked on the hull and reached an arm's length below the waterline with no results. Surface swimmers are not trained divers and do not perform sub-surface operations. Navy crews observed that the sailing vessel's keel was broken off, causing a breach in the hull.”
By Friday morning, Stormforce had lost contact with the boat. The wreckage was found during the last hours of the US Coast Guard's search for the four British sailors who were on the Cheeki Rafiki when it started taking on water in storm-torn seas.
The coastguard initially called off the search three days after its disappearance but resumed on Tuesday after a call from the British government and a petition signed by almost 250,000 people. Contact with Andrew Bridge, Paul Goslin, Steve Warren and James Male was lost soon after they reported the yacht was taking on water and that they were diverting to the Azores.
Suspected debris found earlier by an Australian crew was thought not to be from the Cheeki Rafiki. Officials said the coastguard still intended to call off the search as the latest development failed to suggest the crew were alive.
A spokesman said: "The hull sighting has not impacted search planning as teams continue to look for a bright-coloured life raft as their search object."
The last known contact was signals from two of their distress locater beacons on Friday morning about 1,000 miles from Massachusetts. It had been hoped they had been able to board the vessel's life raft.
Families of the sailors have refused to give up hope of finding them alive and when the US Coast Guard called off the search earlier this week they successfully pleaded for the hunt to be resumed.
It started again on Tuesday but will stop at midnight, local time, on Friday. Only if they US authorities have a new reason to think the sailors are alive will they carry on.
A Foreign Office spokesman said it was keeping in close contact with American counterparts and have informed the sailors' families' of the discovery.
Earlier today, speaking after a meeting at the Foreign Office, Mr Male's father, Graham, said: “Although the search at some point is going to be suspended... [it] is still happening. We have got to stay positive to that. We know our boys are out there.”
A Foreign Office spokesman said it was keeping in close contact with the US Coast Guard. He said: “We have informed the families and remain in close contact with them and with the USCG who continue to lead the search operation.”
Additional reporting by PA