'Rainha da Brisa,' registered in Fuseta, was scheduled to return to the port of Olhão at around 13.00 on Monday. A sea and air search on Monday afternoon revealed nothing of its whereabouts but after further searches on Tuesday, the boat is assumed to have sunk and the men to have drowned.
The 7.5 metre fishing boat set off with two fishermen on board, aged 35 and 58, and was listed officially as missing on Monday afternoon. The search and rescue operation included a Navy ship, a launch, a lifeboat, members of the Coast Guard and a helicopter from the Portuguese Air Force.
"The search for the missing fishermen was suspended at sunset on Tuesday without any evidence being found," said the commander of the Port Authority of Faro.
According to the commander, today’s air, land and maritime searches were hampered from lunchtime by worsening conditions which prevented further patrols at sea, and the operation has been scaled back to "patrolling the shoreline with 12 marine police officers. Wednesday’s forecast is for poor weather conditions and therefore it is not advisable to search on the sea."
About 50 men were deployed today as searches continued with a helicopter, two speedboats, two ships and a group of forensic divers from the marine police.
The two Olhão fishermen were on the 7 metre 'Rainha da Brisa.' They had last been seen between the islands of Faro and Deserta in relatively calm waters.
Earlier reports of a body washed up near Fuseta dashed hopes for the families involved but were later proved to be among the many rumours circulating the fishing town. After being missing for a day and a half there is no real prospect of finding either alive. The missing fishermen are 58 and 35 year old family men.
The Portuguese Institute of Ocean and Atmosphere (IPMA) on Monday placed the district of Faro on orange alert, the second most severe in the range of four warnings to rough seas from Tuesday morning, expected to last until Wednesday, hampering further resuse operations.
