Debris spotted ‘not related’ to missing yacht
Debris found in the area of the Atlantic Ocean where a UK yacht went missing does not belong to the stricken vessel, the US coastguard says.
Video: Washington Correspondent Kylie Morris reports.
A volunteer crew – searching for the four British sailors missing in the Atlantic – spotted a plank and a piece of foam in the search area on Thursday morning.
But the US coastguard ruled out any connection with the British boat Cheeki Rafiki.
‘Remote region’
First coastguard District Chief of Response Captain Anthony Popiel said: “Our search assets have found a variety of debris and trash during their searches. The key part is correlating these objects to the search effort.
“We take reports of debris very seriously and, at this time, no debris or objects reported during this search correlate to the Cheeki Rafiki.
“This is still a very remote region of the Atlantic and our search planning is focused on directing the US and international military ships and aircraft we have deployed. We are also working directly with volunteer commercial ships in the area.”
We take reports of debris very seriously and, at this time, no debris or objects reported during this search correlate to the Cheeki Rafiki. Captain Anthony Popiel
The 40ft Cheeki Rafiki was sailing back to the UK from an Antigua regatta when it got into trouble and started taking on water 620 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, last Thursday.
The four men on board – Andrew Bridge, James Male, Steve Warren and Paul Goslin (pictured above) – have not been heard from since the early hours of Friday morning.
‘Hopeful’
Kay Coombes, the sister of Mr Warren, said the families of the missing sailors were still clinging on to hope. “They are still out there, there’s more resources being put into it, so we’re still hopeful at this point,” she said.
The US coastguard called off the search for the men on Sunday, but resumed after a petition signed by politicians, celebrities and top sailors attracted 200,000 signatures.
Aircraft from the US, Canada and the RAF have been combing the area alongside merchant vessels.
Relatives of the sailors also met Foreign Office officials on Thursday.
Graham Male, father of James, said: “It was a very constructive meeting, it really filled the families in with the detail. What we can say is the UK government and the US coastguard are right behind us, which we’re so grateful for.
“We know there’s going to be some resources going out there. Of course it’s a large area to cover. They are going to continue their support.”
The sailors’ families are also in discussions with a crowd-sourcing initiative set up by a satellite company.
Tomnod, run by DigitalGlobe, allows people to view satellite photos online and tag objects of interest. It was previously used following Typhoon Haiyan and the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.
