Search and rescue for missing persons is always challenging for the specialist recovery teams involved, regardless of the environment they’re working in.
But the teams looking for the missing aboard the Bayesian yacht which sank off the coast of Sicily leaving several people dead, have faced particularly challenging conditions. Even though the boat lies in relatively shallow water of 50 meters, underwater operations are affected by numerous factors which make them the most complex of search and rescue efforts.
Best practice shows that searches should be coordinated, with areas that are being searched expanding outwards from the last known location. This makes the most efficent use of available teams and equipment, which are selected depending on targets and environments being searched, while updating and refining the operation as new information becomes available.
Land-based searches may be more straightforward as the recovery team can usually walk or move about more easily. Searching in water is more challenging, whether in rivers, lakes or the open ocean.
Inland waterway searches, such as rivers, canals and lakes are more constrained in their extent than the sea and open ocean due to surface area and depth.
Searchers use a variety of techniques,…