A massive search operation launched on the Firth of Clyde amid reports of a man overboard

Daily Mail​

11 hours ago

A massive search operation was launched in the Firth of Clyde yesterday afternoon amid concern a man had gone overboard.
The passenger was reported missing on the Gourock to Dunoon service after disappearing while fetching something from his car.
The man, believed to be in his sixties, vanished from the Western Ferries vessel shortly after telling his wife that he needed to get something from the boot of their vehicle.
When he failed to come back, she raised the alarm.
Emergency services including the RNLI, Coastguard and Police Scotland officers joined the search after the alert was raised at around 1.30pm.
CalMac ferries stopped services for safety reasons amid the operation and said its MV Ali Cat was aiding the search for the missing passenger.
A Coastguard helicopter flew a search pattern over the Gourock- Dunoon route and surrounding areas.
It was airborne for most of the afternoon before refuelling at Prestwick at 5.38pm.
Coastguard crews searched on foot along the Gourock waterfront while police officers were deployed to the nearby ferry terminal. Western Ferries also suspended sailings on the route.
In Dunoon, a Western Ferries operator said he had been told no boats would serve the 20-minute journey for the rest of the day, or at least until 'the search' was over.
He said: 'I've just been told not to let anyone else into the car park and inform people that the only way they're going to get out of here today is by road.'
One hotelier, whose rooms were filled with passengers stranded on the Dunoon side of the route, said: 'The way the current's going he could be at Holy Loch or Helensburgh by now.'
Another passenger said the incident had left everyone on board 'traumatised'.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: 'HM Coastguard are responding to reports of a person overboard between the Hunter's Quay and Gourock area.
'An HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter has been tasked to conduct a search, alongside Coastguard rescue teams from Largs and Dunoon, in addition to RNLI lifeboats from Helensburgh and Largs.'
Late last night the emergency services said the search had been called off until morning.