Arklow-Brave

On Aug 25, 2015, at 6:05 p.m., the "Arklow Brave" located a crab boat which was drifting almost 20 kilometers SW of the Glénan archipelago in the area where the fishing vessel "Ar Morvran" was missing. In approaching it, the crew of the freighter confirmed the identity of the vessel but did not see anyone aboard. At 2.05 p.m., the CROSS Etel had been contacted by a witness who was concerned about the fishing vessel and its skipper. After contacting the family of the owner of the ship, several shore, the semaphore Beg-Meil and witnesses at sea and on land, the CROSS got the confirmation that the 9-m-ship had sailed from Port-La-Forêt at 9.35 a.m. with one person on board. It attempted to establish radio contact with the fisherman, which was without success. The CROSS Etel started Mayday Relay broadcast messages to all ships in the region to ask them to perform a proper lookout. The "SNS 297" of the lifeboat station Fouesnant, a Lynx helicopter of the Navy, two fishing vessels from the port of Port-La-Forêt, the "SNS 140" of the lifeboat station Loctudy and a Dragon 29 helicopter of the civil security started an SAR operation. After the "Arklow Brave" reported its findings, the Dragon 29 helicopter arrived at 6:27 p.m., right in time to attend the sinking of the "Morvan Ar" in rough sea conditions. The helicopter crew immediately attempted to locate the fisherman, but without success. The helicopter left the area soon after. A Cayman 33E helicopter of the Navy resumed the search at 7:14 p.m. At 10:05 p.m., in the absence of new information and after consultation with the Director of the CROSS Etel, the search was suspended.