The man said on Tuesday morning he wanted to return to the cultivation of the Dumbéa Pass after sinking his ship. Nothing has been heard from him since then. The research that had been going on since Wednesday afternoon was interrupted on Thursday evening.
Search operations have been launched off Nouméa to find a sailor who left Nouméa in exceptional circumstances since the morning of June 14th. The 68-year-old left the anchorage around 6 a.m. on Tuesday and announced that he would sink his sailing boat at the Dumbéa Pass and return to the dinghy. He lived alone on his boat in Orphanage Bay. A mooring neighbor raised the alarm on Wednesday afternoon without seeing him return.
The search was started immediately by the MRCC, the Sea Rescue Coordination Center, first from the air with a Fanc Puma, then this Thursday with the helicopter, but also with the Guardian aircraft and at sea with resources from the SNSM. They were interrupted in the late afternoon without result.
The rescue services are considering all possible hypotheses, especially since the search began more than 24 hours after the boatman’s departure. It is a sailing boat about 12 meters long called Sel à vie, metallic, with a white sail. Special vigilance is required of marine users navigating in the area. For information please contact 16.