The search continues at sea and on land to find a missing man

Since Wednesday morning, extensive search efforts have been deployed at sea in an effort to locate a resident of Saint Barthélemy. An initial message posted on social media raised the alarm. It stated that the man was last seen Tuesday evening on his boat in Gustavia Bay. “He may have drifted away in his dinghy,” the message noted.

On Wednesday morning, the gendarmerie and the Saint Barthélemy Territorial Fire and Rescue Service (STIS) mobilized. On land, the gendarmerie searched the areas the missing man usually frequented but found no trace of him. At the same time, the man’s boat was inspected. There was no sign of the occupant on the boat, though a cell phone was found there. At the same time, a team of firefighters from the SAV (water rescue unit) set out on a reconnaissance mission between Gustavia and Colombier, searching the coastal strip. A STIS drone was also deployed to survey the surroundings of all nearby islets.

At the same time, the Antilles-Guyana Regional Operational Center for Surveillance and Rescue (Cross AG) alerted the SNSM (National Society for Sea Rescue) stations in Saint Barth and Saint Martin. Rescue teams set out to search for any sign of the missing man or his dinghy. Their efforts were unsuccessful, due to challenging weather conditions.

To support this effort, a Dutch reconnaissance aircraft was also deployed until nightfall.

Late Thursday morning, CROSS AG informed the JSB that the search “is still ongoing.”