PORTSMOUTH, Va. – Rescue Coordination Center Norfolk suspended the search at 8:22 p.m. Sunday in conjunction with Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Halifax, Nova Scotia, for the missing Canadian sailor who has been overdue on his trip from Halifax to Bermuda.
Hubert Marcoux, 67, departed Halifax aboard his 45-foot sailboat Mon Pays Nov. 9 with a plan to arrive in Bermuda by Monday.
Marcoux filed a sail plan with the Halifax Coast Guard Radio Station with his intentions. When he did not arrive as planned they notified Joint Rescue Coordination Center Halifax at about 4 p.m. Tuesday. They began coordinating the search and requested assistance from U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Coordination Center Norfolk.
Norfolk took the lead on coordinating the search efforts Friday evening and more aircraft were involved in the searches Saturday and Sunday. Broadcasts continue to be transmitted along the east coast from the United States and Canada using Inmarsat Enhanced Group Calls, Urgent Marine Information Broadcasts, and NAVTEX marine safety broadcasts to notify other mariners of the overdue man. There have been 38 merchant vessels broadcasting on VHF marine band radio channel 16 to attempt to contact Marcoux.
There have been 18 separate aircraft searches covering approximately 152,000-square-nautical miles. The Canadian and United States aircraft searched 82 hours and came from the following air bases:
* Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C.
* New York Air National Guard’s 106th Rescue Wing
* Canadian Air Forces 14 Wing Greenwood in Nova Scotia
* Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, Mass.
* Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida
