Final yacht search fails

Massive search operation for missing yacht

A last-ditch aeriel search over the North Sea has failed to find three Cambridge university students and their skipper who are missing aboard a 28ft yacht.

Chris McMenemy, 26, Carol Smith, 23, James Chew, 22, and skipper Adam Clackson, 58 were last seen when they left the Dutch port of Ijmuiden on board the Tuila yacht last Friday.

The search is focused on Dutch waters

A massive three-day operation by seven lifeboats, five spotter-planes and a helicopter failed to find any sign of the yacht and the search was called off on Tuesday evening.

But following appeals from families and friends of those missing, coastguards agreed to conduct a final aerial search over the North sea.

A spokesperson for the Maritime and Coastguards Agency in Southampton said a spotter plane, already in the area on anti-pollution surveillance duties, had been detailed to scan the area of the North sea where the boat vanished.

The spokesperson said: "Unfortunately nothing was found and the plane is now on its way back."

The plane used for the final search, a Cessna, was equipped with remote sensors, sideways-looking radar and infra-red, and has a seven-and-a-half endurance.