Coast Guard Crews Search Called Off Following Announcement
After an extensive search involving a number of surface U.S. Coast Guard vessels and an air search by a C-130 Hercules Coast Guard airplane, the crew of a missing sailboat was discovered safe.
The crew contacted family members, and is safe so the search was canceled.
The search for the Fifty-Four foot Meltemi, a sailboat out of Norfolk, Va., began this last week. The Meltemi left Norfolk en-route to Florida but never made scheduled contact with family members, so it was reported overdue and lost.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Christopher Evanson said the Sailboat left Willoughby Bay last Wednesday and was headed for a location in Florida. When the boat never arrived on Thursday one of the crewmember’s wives contacted the Coast Guard.
Elizabeth City N.C. Coast Guard Air Station launched a C-130 to help in the search efforts, and the aircraft spent much of the day Sunday scanning the Atlantic Ocean from Jacksonville to Virginia, but did not find the sailboat.
Petty Officer Evanson said the crewman’s wife called Coast Guard this morning to report that the crew had made contact with her and were safe.
Search efforts continue in the hunt for a thirty-foot sailboat that left Delaware on November 30th and whom was expected to contact on December 2nd. No word has been heard of the sailboat since the 30th, and the search continues.
The sailboat was on a trip from Lewes, Delaware to Panama.
