The United States Coast Guard suspended a search for a boat that disappeared Monday after leaving the Bahamas for the Florida coast.
The 29-foot (9-meter) Mako Cuddy Cabin set sail from Bimini on Monday
with 20 people on board
and was supposed to arrive in Lake Worth Beach, about 10 miles south of West Palm Beach, on Tuesday, the Coast Guard said. .
After it became known that the boat was delayed, and had not arrived, the Coast Guard and other agencies, including the Bahamian authorities, began looking for him.
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The record covered an area twice the size of Massachusetts, about 17,000 square miles, and
spanned more than three days, about 84 hours
.
On Friday it was announced that the search was suspended.
"I ask anyone with information on the people on board to contact us as soon as possible," said Capt. Stephen V. Burdian, Seventh District Chief of Response.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the missing people," Burdian said.
Details about the trip, including why the boat was heading to Florida, where it was going on Lake Worth Beach, and the names and nationalities of those on board were not immediately known, Chief Warrant Officer José Hernández said, according to The New York Times.
Initial information is that there were 20 people on board, but there could be more.
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A Coast Guard spokesperson also said Saturday that the agency had no information on the identities of those on board, our sister network NBC News said.
The search could be resumed
if new information is obtained.
"Right now, the suspension just means that we are focusing on other cases until we get more information, then we will look for this vessel and the people on board," Hernandez said.
With information from NBC News, The New York Times and the Associated Press.
