The Sao Paulo retraced its previous course and searched the ship for five hours. All the life jackets and survival gear on board were also accounted for.
The Coast Guard 17th District Rescue Coordination Center in Juneau was notified of the missing man at approximately 11 p.m. Thursday from the Sao Paulo and issued an urgent marine information broadcast to request the assistance of any vessels in the area.
An HC-130 Hercules aircraft from Air Station Kodiak was launched at 1:22 a.m. and reached the search area at 4:20 a.m. and has since completed its search. A self-locating data marker buoy was deployed from the aircraft at 6:30 a.m. A second Hercules is scheduled to arrive on scene about 3 p.m. and will search about three hours before having to return for fuel.
Weather conditions in the search area are seas of six feet, winds of 23 mph and a water temperature of 59 degrees. The man was wearing a light blue jacket and dark blue pants when he was last seen.
The Sao Paulo is a Hong Kong-flagged vessel and was sailing to Mexico.
