Jennifer Johnson, spokesperson of the Miami Coast Guard Marine Safety Office said the U.S. Coast Guard was notified on the disappearance of the Romanian ship captain Friday, 13:38 (20:38, Romanian time) and it immediately started search operations onto 1,122 square sea miles.
Johnson said rescue teams halted operations after 25 hours of vain searches, stressing an investigation will be conducted as soon as the ship reaches destination.
Adrian Mihalcioiu, head of the Free Union of Navigators and representative of the International Federation of Transporters (ITF) in Romania, Sunday said the ship left Greece this week and is heading for the United States.
The captain’s disappearance was noticed on May 24 when the ship’s chief engineer started to look for him to ask for his help in a certain matter. Since Iliescu was nowhere to be found, sailor mates started to check every inch of the ship and concluded the captain probably fell overboard and disappeared into the Atlantic Ocean.