Man dies after falling overboard from luxurious yacht within the English Channel
Emergency services had to rush into the English Channel to try and find the man after he fell off the luxury yacht on Sunday morning, as the ship was brought back to the shore
Emergency services have confirmed a man has died after he fell out of a luxury yacht in the English Channel. An urgent search and rescue mission was launched following the incident, with the body being found a few hours later.
Reports from the coastguard found the man had fallen off a catamaran close to the Rampion Offshore Farm in Brighton on Sunday (November 30). A woman who was also on board is believed to have called the police, who alerted the other emergency services.
Since then, the boat was taken back to shore as the RNLI headed out into the Channel to find the missing man. The incident remained ongoing for some time as they rushed to try and find the man, the coastguard confirmed.
A statement from the local coastguard said the incident was first reported at 10.19am, with HM Coastguard receiving reports of a person overboard. It is believed the incident began on a vessel off the coast near Newhaven, according to the Daily Mail.
“RNLI lifeboats from Shoreham and Newhaven have been sent to search, along with an HM Coastguard Rescue Helicopter, a Coastguard fixed wing aircraft and two nearby vessels in the vicinity,” the initial statement said. “The incident is ongoing.”
However, after the case was handed to Sussex Police, it was confirmed that an extensive search had found the man’s body. A spokeswoman for the force said, according to the Argus: “The man has been identified and his next of kin has been informed.
“Our thoughts are with them at this difficult time. Enquiries are going; no further details are available at this stage.”
Locals have shared their shock and sorrow at the tragedy that hit the community, with one person writing: “Superb effort by Newhaven Lifeboat, Shoreham Lifeboat and the Coastguard teams – you can always be relied upon. Special shout out to the yachts who also attended to help.”
A second user added: “Good work to all involved. Such a shame about the outcome.”
This is not the first time that a person has fallen into the water, after a British pensioner was seen going overboard on a cruise just north of the Canary Islands. Police and coastguards from Spain have since been called to try and locate the woman.
It is believed the man had been on the adults-only Marella Explorer 2, run by TUI Cruises when he fell over. The alarm was raised on Thursday (November 27) while the ship was about midway from Madeira to the Canaries.
The ship’s captain is reported to have grinded the ship to a halt before “protocol procedures” were initiated. This means the ship’s entire CCTV footage was combed through, as well as deploying buoys to mark the nearby area of concern in case the man was found.
An update provided by the coastguard on Friday (November 28) confirmed that the 76-year-old was still not found. Searches to try and find the man were continuing close to the last reported sighting, about 16 nautical miles from the island of Tenerife.
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