No hope for missing fisherman (From The Northern Echo)

No hope for missing fisherman

11:28pm Tuesday 4th March 2008 in

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THE search for a missing fisherman was called off tonight after rescuers said there was no hope he was still alive.

A rescue operation was launched after the man fell overboard in the North Sea today.

The skipper of the 19-metre Sanlormarho raised the alarm at around 4.50pm after the man fell into the water two nautical miles off Blyth, Northumberland.

A helicopter, lifeboat teams and several fishing vessels were involved in the search, which was co-ordinated by Humber Coastguard.

The search was called off at around 9.40pm after rescuers found no trace of the man despite a thorough search of the area where he disappeared.

They said that the man could only have survived until around 8pm in the water, which was 6-8 degrees centigrade.

A Humber coastguard spokesman said: "Because the Mayday came quickly from the fishing vessel we had quite a specific area and it was a well saturated search.

"When we called off the search we were confident that if there was anything to find we would have found it.

"We are confident that the crewman would no longer be alive."

It is thought the 27-year-old fisherman, from the Philippines, lost his balance and fell overboard after a wire on the boat snapped.

There were four other crew on board the 67-tonne boat from Eyemouth, in the Scottish Borders.