A boat belonging to a fisherman whose disappearance led to a major search has been towed back to harbour and the search called off for the night.
Edward Bissell, 64, from Hartlepool, was in a 20ft boat called the Bonny Lass, which left the town's docks on Wednesday morning.
Five lifeboats, a coastguard vessel and an RAF Helicopter took part in the search of the Tees Bay area.
The abandoned vessel was found 14 miles off Hartlepool on Thursday afternoon.
There was no sign of Mr Bissell and the search was called off for the day later on Thursday afternoon.
The alarm was raised by the Humber coastguard in the early hours of Thursday, after the small green and white fishing boat failed to return to port.
A spokeswoman for Cleveland Police said there had been no contact with the boat since it left the harbour.
Three coastguard teams were also scrambled to carry out a search of the shore.
Emergency services have ruled out any connection with the body of a man found at Hartlepool marina on Wednesday night.
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