The Portuguese Maritime Authority announced on Friday the end of the search for a 16-year-old French surfing hopeful who disappeared on Monday while diving off the island of Faial, in the Azores archipelago. .
“More than 75 hours after reporting the disappearance and given the conditions of the area and the limits to survival at sea, the search is coming to an end,” the Portuguese Maritime Authority said in a statement. “Notice to Shipping will be maintained for all vessels passing through the area to remain vigilant and report any sightings,” the document said.
On Wednesday, the French Surfing Federation announced, in a message of condolence published on social networks, that the victim of this diving accident was Jules Prou, a young hope of French surfing.
He evolved at the Pôle Espoir de Bretagne, a high-level sector attached to the federation. “From the height of his 16 years, Jules was already a gentleman, endowed with high potential and an astonishing maturity”, greeted on social networks the ESB Surf Club, where he was dismissed.
Originally from the Ile de Ré, he was ranked 2nd in the Open de France espoirs de Lacanau last July and 2nd in the Brittany cadet championship in June. The alert on the disappearance of Jules Prou, about ten nautical miles (about 18 kilometers) west of Faial, had been given on Monday by a representative of a tourism company specializing in maritime activities.
The island of Faial is located in the central group of the Azores archipelago, a popular destination for tourists, some 1,500 kilometers west of Lisbon. During the search, the Portuguese relief work was supported by a navy boat and an air force plane.