Missing Condor ferry passenger believed to have gone overboard

Sunday 23 July 2023

A major search across the English Channel for a Condor ferry passenger believed to have gone overboard took place over the weekend.

Concerns were first raised late on Saturday evening after a passenger failed to disembark the M/V Commodore Clipper in Jersey, Guernsey Coastguard said in a statement released this afternoon.

Investigations indicated the individual had gone overboard at some point between Portsmouth and Guernsey.

The individual's identity has not been confirmed, though French media reported that the individual was a 49-year-old woman of Swiss nationality.

The search was coordinated by the UK Coastguard with support from Jersey and Guernsey.

A large area of the English Channel between the Isle of Wight and Guernsey was searched by aircraft from the UK and France, as well as Channel Islands Air Search, but nothing was found. The French Navy's new H160 helicopter, based in Maupertus, also took part in the search.

The head of the French SNSM lifeboat station in Goury, which helped with the search, told French media that the search conditions were challenging.

"They did not know what time the woman had fallen in, so inevitably the search area was huge," explained Yohann Sanson, whose team focused on an area north-east of Alderney. 

"The conditions during the night were abysmal, and even this morning [Sunday], the wind had died down, but we still had 25 to 30 knots," he added.

After confirming that the search had ended on Saturday afternoon, Guernsey's Assistant Harbourmaster James Way said thoughts went out to the family and friends of the missing person "at this difficult time".

"An extensive are was searched as we did not know exactly when or where the person may have entered the water.

"As the survival time for someone in the water in normal clothing has now expired, the search has been terminated."