THE Royal Bahamas Defence Force said it has spent 100 hours searching for a man missing at sea after he fell off a jet ski during a collision with a boat on July 11.

In a statement, the RBDF said up until yesterday, it had been “actively engaged” in the search for Drew Rigby.

However, it said that due to weather conditions, and at night, the search was temporarily suspended at times for the safety of those overboard.

The agency added that the success of any search and rescue (SAR) mission relies on timing and an exhaustive search.

“Therefore, once alerted, the RBDF responded swiftly and engaged all of her available resources to ensure the success of this particular SAR mission,” the agency said yesterday. “In addition to the RBDF resources, the RBPF, BASRA and its network of civilian volunteers, and a number of civilian vessels provided by the family were coordinated in the effort.”

These resources included three Harbour Patrol Unit small boat assets, one RBDF aircraft, RBDF military divers, RBDF aerial and submarine drones, a RBPF small boat, BASRA and a vast network of volunteers and vessels provided by the family, the agency said.

The search area was approximately 10 square nautical miles, which the RBDF said would approximately equate to searching an area from Montagu Beach ramp to the Arawak Cay Port facility, south to the Sports Centre and then east to the Montagu Beach ramp area.

“This area was methodically searched by all available search resources with a constant presence,” the RBDF said. “However, due to the prevailing weather conditions — sea-state, waves and the wind — the search was at times temporarily postponed. This was done particularly at nighttime, to reduce the risk of injury to person(s) overboard, until the advantage of daylight is available, and favourable weather conditions allow the search to continue.”

The RBDF said it met with the missing man’s family on Thursday to update them on the progress of the search.

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