The US Coast Guard was facing calls last night to return to the doomed British yacht Cheeki Rafiki, to check whether the bodies of any of its four crew members were trapped inside. The coastguard located the boat a week after the vessel went missing.
The US Coast Guard has suspended its search for the missing British crew members of the yacht the Cheeki Rafiki, a spokesman said today.
It comes a day after the hull of the yacht was found, and only hours after its life raft was discovered still secured aboard, about 1,000 miles east of Cape Cod in Massachusetts.
Officials had said the coastguard intended to call off the search at midnight (3am British time) unless there was new information or sightings that would suggest the crew is still alive.
With no sign of a life raft or of debris, and with nearly 20,000 square miles having been searched, the hunt continues for another day.
Veteran yachtsman Tony Bullimore tells ITV News that there is a "strong possibility" the yachtsmen are still alive in the life raft.