SEVKETTIN SONAY

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Course/Position

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Man missing off Calais

In the morning of June 27, 2011, around 6.10 a.m., the captain of the "Sevkettin Sonay" which was off Pas-de-Calais contacted the rescue center Gris-Nez as he was concerned about one of the 18 crew members who did not attend his shift. He had been seen for the last time two hours earlier and probably fell overboard. The ship was thoroughly searched by the crew while a broadcast to all ships was sent out to look out for the man. A Dauphin helicopter of the Navy, based in Le Touquet, and a Belgian Seaking Helicopter, based at Koksijde, near Ostend, started a search for the man, joined by the lifeboats "Jean Bart 2" of the SNSM in Dunkirk and the "Notre-Dame de Risban" of the SNSM Calais, the RNLI boat from Ramsgate and the police launch "Escaut" from Dunkirk. At 10.45 a.m., the captain told that the whole ship had been searched and the Turkish national, aged 38, was not found. At 12 a.m., a Falcon 50 aircraft of the Navy in Lann Bihoué joined the search. The plane is equipped with a thermal camera system. Given the areas were investigated several times for over 10 hours and a water temperature of 14 °, the search was halted at 3.30 p.m. without result.