Bourbon Offshore vessel sinks in Atlantic, 11 crew still missing

Eleven crew members from the tug supply vessel Bourbon Rhode are still missing, after the vessel sank in the Atlantic ocean. The ship was en route to Georgetown in Guyana when it got hit by the category 4 hurricane Lorenzo.

The 14 crew members sounded the alarm on September 26 reporting a water ingress in the rear part of the vessel. Bourbon immediately formed a crisis team and asked that the bulk carrier SSi Excellent, which was the closest vessel nearby, changed its route to rescue the crew and vessel.

On September 28, Bourbon confirmed that the vessel had sunk. A Falcon 50 search and rescue aircraft sent by the French navy spotted a lifeboat with three crew members who have been rescued by the mobilized rescue teams.

On Sunday, Bourbon reported that at the beginning of Saturday night the Falcon 50 and the aircraft of the American National Hurricane Center (NHC) spotted a capsized fast rescue craft. A commercial vessel engaged in the operation immediately headed in its direction in order to try to recover it. At this point, it’s not clear if the vessel has arrived at the lifeboat and if there are crew members inside.

The search for tug supply vessel Bourbon Rhode and its missing crew members continues with the full support of rescue teams of West-Indies Guyana and the French navy. Five commercial vessels have changed course in order to bring assistance to the rescue teams.