PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard suspended its search Thursday for the missing captain of the HMS Bounty 200 miles southeast of Hatteras, N.C.
Missing is Robin Walbridge, 63.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Walbridge and Christian families,” said Capt. Doug Cameron, the chief of incident response for the Coast Guard 5th District. ”Suspending a search and rescue case is one of the hardest decisions we have to make.”
The following Coast Guard assets assisted in the search:
- HC-130 Hercules aircrews from Elizabeth City, N.C. and Clearwater, Fla.
- MH-60 Jayhawk crews from Air Station Elizabeth City
- Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry crews from Miami, Fla.
- Crew aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Elm, a 225-foot buoy tender homeported in Atlantic Beach, N.C.
- Crew aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Gallatin, a 378-foot high-endurance cutter homeported in Charleston, S.C.
Coast Guard crews searched more than 90 hours, covering approximately 12,000 overlapping square nautical miles in the Atlantic Ocean since the Bounty’s crew abandoned ship Monday morning.