503/2021 MOB
29/04/2021
The crew of CIAS were alerted by Guernsey Coastguard at 1202hrs and requested to carry out a search for a man overboard in an area SW of Les Minquiers.
Guernsey Coastguard reported that a fisherman had been reported overboard by the crew of the French fishing vessel Mascaret III at 0715hrs BST - almost 5 hours earlier. The casualty was a 30 year old male, wearing a black leather jacket and blue trousers. He was not wearing a life jacket.
Various other assets including 5 lifeboats and two helicopters were already searching the area. CROSS Jobourg advised that the helicopter Dragon 50 was about to leave the search, but would advise if they were due to return so vertical separation could be put in place.
Coming off blocks at 1243hrs, Lions’ Pride departed from runway 09 at 1251hrs and set course for Les Minquiers. En route, CROSS Jobourg provided search coordinates and a stepladder search pattern was established with 7 mile search legs using 0.25NM track spacing and running NW to SE, working from west to east.
Lions’ Pride arrived in the search area at 1316hrs and commenced a visual search at 250 - 300 feet AMSL at a speed of 90 KIA.
The weather was clear and sunny, visibility was excellent and the sea was smooth, although the tide was running west at considerable speed.
Several marker buoys were observed but there was no trace of the casualty. Having completed the assigned search area, a sweep of Les Minquiers reef was carried out.
The search was completed at 1550hrs and CROSS Jobourg did not require a follow on search. Lions’ Pride returned to Guernsey landing at 1615hrs, was refuelled and made ready for service.
On-Scene Coordinator: Cross Jobourg