The search for a man who went missing at sea in Vila do Bispo has been unsuccessfully suspended.

At around 8 p.m., maritime authorities unsuccessfully suspended the search for a US citizen who went missing on Friday after diving off a cliff at Vila do Bispo in the Algarve, the Lagos Harbor Master said.

Searches took place during the day at sea and on land, up to 14 hours with the participation of aviation and a group of divers were preparing to search for the missing 27 years old near the rock, but the state of the sea did not allow the team of divers to enter the water, the captain of the port told Lusa.

“We tried to conduct searches at the level of the water column with the help of divers, but due to the state of the sea, this was not possible. Until sunset, we continued searches at sea level with a warship and a boat from the rescue station in Sagres, as well as searches of pedestrians on the beaches of Zavial and Barranco with the participation of volunteer firefighters of Vila do Bispo and the Marine Police,” said Commander Pedro da Palm.

The same source explained that “they were still trying to get through there” with divers, but “it was too risky” due to rough seas, which also make the water in the area “very muddy”.

Pedro da Palma said the search would resume on Sunday after sunrise.

“Early in the morning, we will assemble a multidisciplinary team of the Maritime Administration, consisting of divers from the Maritime Police, employees of the rescue station of the Institute of Assistance to Shipwrecked, the Maritime Police, Civil Protection and firefighters, and we will check if there are conditions for searching for divers in the water column,” Pedro said. yes Palma.

The Harbor Master specified that the first difficulty for the searchers was “the state of the sea, which is out of shape”, and emphasized that the missing person “rushed to [ao mar] next to the rock”, where “there is a lot of surf and there are several places with caves, where in the end the sea could place the victim.”

“Then the place he rushed to, which is a hard-to-reach place and already hard to get to” under good sea conditions, he added, noting that 30 operational personnel were involved in operations this Saturday, including elements of the Navy, the Marine Police , Shipwrecked Institute, Civil Protection and Vila do Bispo Fire Brigade.

The search for the 27-year-old American resumed at 7:15 am.

The disappearance alert was received around 8:00 pm on Friday by the Socorro District Command of Operations (CDOS) Faro, and the search continued for part of the night until it was interrupted due to lack of visibility conditions on the spot, he said. , National Maritime Administration (AMN) on Friday evening.

In a search operation coordinated by the Harbor Master and the local commander of the Lagos Marine Police, “elements of the local command of the Lagos Marine Police, the Sagres Rescue Station and the volunteer firefighters of Vila do Bispo. , as well as an aircraft of the Portuguese Air Force, indicated at the time AMN.

“The man was escorted by a person next to a rock between Barranco Beach and Ingrina Beach when he allegedly dived into the sea, eventually disappearing,” said AMN, who also activated the NCIS Psychological Office to “provide assistance to the person who accompanied the victim.” “.