A major overnight search operation was launched in Belfast Lough on Saturday and continued into Sunday night following reports that a Stena Superfast 8 passenger had gone into the water.
Emergency crews including the Coastguard, RNLI and Lagan Search and Rescue responded to a Mayday call at around 9.30pm when the Stena Line ferry’s fast response vessel was launched. A Rescue 199 helicopter was dispatched from Scotland within hours and a rescue plane joined the search effort on Sunday. It was later canceled and the case was handed over to the police. The Irish Times reports that the missing man is believed to be from Limerick. The newspaper understands that a relative contacted Dublin Port on Saturday with concerns about the 39-year-old who was believed to be traveling from Holyhead in Wales to Dublin. However, it later emerged that she was on the Cairnryan in Belfast sailing. A spokesman for Belfast Harbor Police told the Belfast Telegraph that they are “participating in an ongoing search for a high-risk missing person following reports that a man has entered the water in Belfast Lough”. They said no further details are available at this time.
