One of the sail transport vessels of the early champion of sail-powered cargo shipping, Blue Schooner Company, has capsized and sank south of the Bahamas archipelago.
The United States Coast Guard informed the company that the schooner De Gallant capsized at 3.30 am on Tuesday and sank half an hour later. So far, very sudden and unexpected extremely violent winds have led to the capsizing of the ship and its evacuation.
The schooner left Santa Marta in Colombia on May 11 with a cargo of coffee, cocoa, and cane sugar and was sailing towards various European destinations.
Rescue operations were carried out by the Miami section of the Regional Operational Surveillance and Rescue Center (CROSS) in conjunction with CROSS Gris-Nez. During the rescue, a helicopter hoisted six of the eight crew members.
According to a statement by Blue Schooner, a major rescue effort was underway to find the remaining two members of the crew. It included two helicopters, a plane, and a USCG vessel, as well as a Bahamas patrol vessel.
On Thursday, the United States Coast Guard announced it was ending search and rescue operations aimed at finding the two missing sailors.
“Despite our insistence on continuing the search, the scale of the resources deployed, the excellence of the United States Coast Guard and the weather conditions in which they were carried out force us to consider the worst outcome,” the company said.
Blue Schooner did not provide any additional information on the missing persons out of consideration for their families. As for the six people airlifted on Tuesday, they were collected by the French diplomatic services and repatriated.
