A large search has taken place for a boat with two people on board which sent an urgent message to the coastguard after apparently getting into difficulty off Carmarthenshire.
The vessel, which is a dory boat measuring 18ft, sent an alert reporting that it had suffered engine failure near Laugharne on Sunday evening.
The boat was believed to have been drifting south of an area known as Ginst Point, to the south of Laugharne and Llansteffan.
The type of alert broadcast by the vessel was a PAN PAN - the international standard urgency signal. This message is used to declare an "urgent situation", but is different to a mayday call which is used to declare an "imminent danger to life".
After receiving the message, a large search operation was launched by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency shortly after 5.40pm on Sunday.
The search included the deployment of coastguard crews from Burry Port and Llansteffan, along with the coastguard’s search and rescue helicopter which arrived at the scene from St Athan.
RNLI crews from Tenby and Burry Port and the Ferryside inshore rescue boat were also involved in the search.
On Sunday night, duty controller for HM Coastguard, Rob Priestley, said: “It’s possible that the boat’s crew has managed to get it ashore but we just need to know that they’re safe.
“We’ve carried out an extensive search and found no signs of anyone in distress and no further calls have been received.”
On Tuesday morning a spokeswoman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency confirmed that nothing had been found during the search, and that there was “no reason to suspect a vessel is missing”.
The Coastgurad is asking for anyone with any information about the vessel at the centre of the search to contact the Milford Haven Coastguard Operations Centre on 01646 690909.
