Hopes fade as un-used life raft found on missing yacht

The US coastguard called off its search at midnight on Friday, and an RAF Hercules plane due to hunt for the four sailors will no longer take off.

Underwater imagery taken by a swimmer from a US Navy warship showed the raft clearly stowed in place, indicating it had not been deployed in an emergency.

Prime Minister David Cameron said his “thoughts are with the families and friends of the crew”.

The upturned yacht was discovered in the Atlantic Ocean on Friday about 1,000 miles (1,609km) east of Cape Cod in Massachusetts.

Its cabin was completely flooded and its windows were shattered, and there was no sign of survivors. The surface rescue swimmer also knocked on the hull and reached below the waterline, but with no results.

Navy crews saw that the Cheeki Rafiki’s keel was broken off, causing a breach in the hull.

Search called off

Coastguard officials decided to call off the search for the men – experienced captain Andrew Bridge, 22, from Farnham, Surrey, and crew members James Male, 23, from Southampton, Steve Warren, 52, from Bridgwater, Somerset, and Paul Goslin, 56, from West Camel, Somerset – unless there was new information or sightings which suggested they would still be alive.

But “none of the developments indicate that to be the case”, a spokesman said.

Mr Cameron said: “My thoughts are with the families and friends of the crew of the Cheeki Rafiki after the sad news that its hull has been found with the life raft un-used.

“My sincere thanks to the US coastguard for leading the international search with great dedication – and to the US Navy, the Canadian authorities and to our own RAF C-130 aircraft who took part in it.”

A coastguard spokesman said: “After a navy warship relocated the overturned sailing vessel on Friday, search planners confirmed the boat’s life raft was secured in its storage space in the aft portion of the boat, indicating the crew had not been able to use it for emergency purposes.”

My thoughts are with the families and friends of the crew of the Cheeki Rafiki after the sad news that its hull has been found with the life raft un-used. Prime Minister David Cameron

He added: “The crew and swimmer deployed to investigate the overturned boat after a helicopter crew located it 1,000 miles off Massachusetts and within the US Coast Guard’s search area. The navy surface swimmer determined the boat’s cabin was flooded and windows were shattered, contributing to the complete flooding inside.”

Official British efforts to find the missing men have also now been cancelled.

A statement on behalf of Mr Warren’s family said: “We are very sad that the US has now suspended the search for Stephen and his friends. From the beginning we, together with the other families involved, have continued to hold out hope that he would be found alive.

“The US Coastguard have led an exceptional search. This is now an incredibly difficult time for all the family. We would therefore request that we are given privacy to come to terms with today’s decision.”

The families of all four sailors asked for their privacy to be respected.