Search Called Off For Missing Ferry Passengers

The search for a man and women reported missing from a cross-Channel ferry has been called off.

The alarm was raised at 2.40am on Monday when the Captain of the P&O Ferries ship Pride of Kent said he had two passengers missing. They were from a coach party on the ferry who did not report to disembark.

The vessel's crew immediately searched the ship. They did not find anyone, so they searched again for a second time. The Captain then contacted Dover Coastguard reporting two passengers missing. Dover Coastguard contacted the French authorities at Cape Gris Nez. The British and French authorities organised a search over a very large area for more than nine hours.

The search involved the Coastguard Tug Anglian Monarch, coastguard spotter plane Echo November, Dover lifeboat, Calais and Boulogne lifeboats, two French helicopters and a French Navy Frigate.

The weather was said to be Westerly Force 6, good visibility with a moderate sea and it is dry.

Fred Caygill, for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: "In a joint decision between the British and French Maritime Authorities, the sea search for the missing women from the P&O Cross Channel ferry Pride of Kent has now been called off."

Ongoing investigations on both sides of the Channel by the police are continuing.