UK - Four Cheeki Rafiki crew members, North Atlantic, 16 May 2014

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zwiebel

zwiebel

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A US/Canadian Coastguard search has been called off, for a crew of four British citizens missing at sea after their yacht capsized mid-Atlantic, having diverted to the Azores. The last contact with the crew was in the early hours of Friday May 16th, as their vessel was taking on water for reasons not known.

An upturned hull and liferaft were sighted, but it's not known if they belonged to the missing yacht, Cheeki Rafiki.

Families are upset as they say the crew are highly experienced and have food and water supplies to last for an extended period. But US Coastguard Rob Simpson says a two-day search of over 4000 miles has found no trace of the yacht or crew.

Missing are:
Andrew Bridge, 21
Steve Warren, 56
James Male, 23
Paul Goslin, 56

http://www.itv.com/news/story/2014-05-18/britons-missing-after-yacht-capsizes-in-atlantic-ocean/
 
Vessel was a hand-built, 40ft performance racer/cruiser, returning from Antigua Sailing Week.

Charter company Stormforce Coaching says contact was lost early Friday and it is 'devastated' the search has ended so soon. They believe the crew took to a liferaft.

Coastguards say the yacht's locator beacons had been activated, and they were able to get some 'general GPS co-ordinates'. He added that a container ship did spot an overturned hull that looked as though it could be the yacht, but did not stop as no crew were visible.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-27462450
 

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The Cruisers Forum has also picked up on the Missing Yacht - they have some further seafaring data there...
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f2/uk-yacht-cheeki-rafiki-missing-in-mid-atlantic-126406.html

Telegraph UK Report...

Four Britons missing at sea after yacht 'capsized' in middle of Atlantic

Cheeki-Rafiki_2914796b.jpg

The Cheeki Rafiki

I was hoping that one of the msm would provide a map as to where the S&R is taking place - and where the Yacht has disappeared.
 
Whoa....This is shocking !!

They've called off the search after only two days despite the fact the crew are obviously all very experienced & know what to do etc...

Stormforce director Doug Innes said:

"We were in contact with the skipper and at the time the yacht and crew were keeping the situation stable"..........

"Unfortunately we lost contact during the early hours of Friday morning and we believe it is possible the crew abandoned to the life raft."

* from zweibel's link above

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-27462450
 
Gary Northfield ‏@gnorthfield · 1h

@SailingWeek Please help put pressure on to get the search back up and running. We need your help. Thank you.


https://twitter.com/SailingWeek

( Hope I've done this right, not sure how to do twitter posts !

It's a tweet from the official Antigua Sailing Week )
 
Respectfully snipped by me...
zwiebel said:
He added that a container ship did spot an overturned hull that looked as though it could be the yacht, but did not stop as no crew were visible.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-27462450
Click to expand...

Why did they not stop?
Wrong coloured hull?
Maybe it was another yacht in distress which wasn't able to send out a signal before it was capsized
Is there yet another yacht missing in that location?
:scared:

This is not the first time Ive heard of debris such as life rafts being passed over as empty because crew members didn't suddenly appear out of nowhere and wave to the passing vessel during the S&R.
Neither were the vessels/hulls/rafts marked or thrown an GPS locator onto them just so they can be tracked later, they were left to drift off. Some dont even get a report made of the sighting - let alone the location.

What is the usual procedure in an S&R if a seacraft is found overturned or abandoned?

I image that safety to the search vessel is paramount as well - but how do they relocate a vessel?

Any ex-Coast Guards on the forum who can help with how it all works?

.
 
Wish we had a seafaring person aboard this thread.

From what I have heard from navy personnel, just the act of stopping a container ship is no small thing, let alone circling and returning to something that's been passed, and getting crew down to check it. In fact, I'm not sure they could have checked an overturned hull, because that would need divers, wouldn't it?

I know vessels are obliged to respond to distress calls, but that doesn't seem to have been the situation here? I am not making excuses or saying the search being called off was right, I just wouldn't like people to get the impression the container crew just coldly passed by, when that is most probably not the case. I hope.
 
Especially considering ^from quote above^ they had probably abandoned it & got in lift-raft as soon as they realized it was necessary.
 
zwiebel said:
Wish we had a seafaring person aboard this thread.

From what I have heard from navy personnel, just the act of stopping a container ship is no small thing, let alone circling and returning to something that's been passed, and getting crew down to check it. In fact, I'm not sure they could have checked an overturned hull, because that would need divers, wouldn't it?

I know vessels are obliged to respond to distress calls, but that doesn't seem to have been the situation here? I am not making excuses or saying the search being called off was right, I just wouldn't like people to get the impression the container crew just coldly passed by, when that is most probably not the case. I hope.
Click to expand...


This is true !
These ships are huge & just the wake (??) from it would cause even more danger. Reporting it's location it probably about all it could do.

th



But ......
Why the Coastguard called off the search so soon I don't understand ?

If the did get in life-boat they'd be well prepared ....

" The RYA said typical supplies on a life raft would include survival suits, water, food, flares and a first aid kit. "

*Royal Yacht Association

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27462450
 
Little Jedi said:
This is true !
These ships are huge & just the wake (??) from it would cause even more danger. Reporting it's location it probably about all it could do.

th



But ......
Why the Coastguard called off the search so soon I don't understand ?

If the did get in life-boat they'd be well prepared ....

" The RYA said typical supplies on a life raft would include survival suits, water, food, flares and a first aid kit. "

*Royal Yacht Association

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27462450
Click to expand...

Thanks for the pic - I've seen up close one of those vessels that came to an unexpected stop mid-ocean, and what happened to all those containers. It really has to be seen to be believed.

They are HUGE....
 
BBC Radio is just announcing families of the missing crew are appealing directly to the US Coastguard to resume the search.....

1000 miles off Cape Cod was last msg from crew, and they said they were stabilising the situation. Didn't know why vessel was taking on water.

US Coastguard says search conditions were: 'Waves up to 25ft, visibility down to about a mile'.

A Minister (politician) representing some of the crew members' county said: 'Conditions are not good, but better than when the US Coastguard started, and the men are highly experienced and equipped to survive..'

She hopes the search can be resumed.
 
Claire Goslin (student, daughter of missing Paul Goslin):

'My Dad is one of the four sailors currently lost at sea...

There is evidence to suggest they are on the life raft with supplies which will last them a few days...

The Boston Coastguards are calling off the search now after 42 hours of intensive searching...

The weather conditions are improving and we pray they are still alive and well out there to be found...

My family wish to gain as much support as possible so my Dad, along with the other three crew members, can get home safe.'

http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Ply...cht-capsizes/story-21109149-detail/story.html
 
zwiebel said:
BBC Radio is just announcing families of the missing crew are appealing directly to the US Coastguard to resume the search.....

1000 miles off Cape Cod was last msg from crew, and they said they were stabilising the situation. Didn't know why vessel was taking on water.

US Coastguard says search conditions were: 'Waves up to 25ft, visibility down to about a mile'.

A Minister (politician) representing some of the crew members' county said: 'Conditions are not good, but better than when the US Coastguard started, and the men are highly experienced and equipped to survive..'

She hopes the search can be resumed.
Click to expand...

Surely this crew have a far greater chance of surviving than most ?!

Abandoning after only two days searching for a 4 man life-raft in the mid Atlantic is ridiculous.

*Exactly Zweibel ~ Where is the Royal Navy ??
 
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