British tourists aboard a ferry traveling from Portsmouth to Bilbao, Spain, spotted a partially submerged sailboat adrift off the coast of France, prompting a search for a missing sailor.
The discovery was made on Monday off the Ile d'Yeu, a French island. Passengers on the ferry raised the alarm, leading the ship to divert its course and dispatch a lifeboat with three rescuers. The team found no signs of life on board or in the surrounding waters.
The maritime prefecture reported that the yacht, approximately 13 meters long, was found adrift with no activated distress beacon. A helicopter and a maritime surveillance aircraft were deployed to search for any potential occupants. Authorities stated the missing individual is of French nationality, though the total number of people who may have been on board remains unknown.
The Regional Operational Surveillance and Rescue Centre of Etel was notified Monday evening about the abandoned sailboat approximately 70 miles southwest of Penmarc'h point in Finistère. The seas in the area were described as relatively calm.
This incident echoes a previous event in 2024 when the wreckage of an empty motor vessel named 'Skomer' was found sunk off the coast of Cornwall. RNLI crews were called to the abandoned boat near Penzance on July 11, but were unable to prevent it from sinking. Local fishermen later reported two individuals entering a nearby harbor in a small dinghy and leaving the area. The 'Skomer' was found with its engine still warm, appearing to have been stripped of some fittings and sustaining significant damage to its stern.