MIAMI – The Coast Guard suspended its search Wednesday evening for two sailors who went missing about 20 miles north of Great Inagua.
Rescue teams searched by air and sea for nearly 44 hours since the initial report, covering more than 3,700 square miles.
Early Tuesday morning, Coast Guard Atlantic Region watchdogs received distress calls from the 90-foot Vanuatu-flagged schooner De Gallant but were unable to make contact. Coast Guard District Seven command center controllers received distress alerts from nearby personal locator beacons and activated a Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter forward to Greater Inagua to begin a search. Around 8 a.m., helicopter crews reportedly found two life rafts with six French nationals floating in the wreckage.
Survivors reported that De Gallant encountered a passing storm and began taking on water. When the ship was known to be sinking, the crew members donned yellow life jackets before boarding the life rafts.
The helicopter crew airlifted the six survivors to Coast Guard Air Station Miami in Opa Locka, Florida.
The two female crew members have not been identified and the Coast Guard, along with the Royal Bahamas Defense Force, continued to search.
“It is with heavy hearts that we extend our deepest condolences to the families and crews who lost these two sailors,” said Cmdr. Lindsey Seniuk, search and rescue mission coordinator for the Coast Guard’s Seventh District command center. “When we send out our rescue teams, we have high hopes that we will be able to bring people home safely, so stopping this job is one of the most difficult decisions our staff has ever made. We are grateful to have been able to bring home the six survivors and grateful for the assistance of our partners in the Royal Bahamas Defense Force.”
Rescuers participating in the search:
- Coast Guard Air Station Miami HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft
- Coast Guard Air Station Miami MH-65 Dolphin helicopter
- Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater HC-27 Medium-range surveillance aircraft
- Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter
- Coast Guard Cutter Resolute
- Royal Bahamas Defense Force HMBS Kamalamee
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