The search for a 22 year old man missing since Sunday's boat collision off Mandelieu-la-Napoule was called off Monday morning, French maritime authorities confirmed, as a judicial investigation opens into the circumstances of the crash.
A helicopter and vessels from the SNSM and SDIS were deployed as soon as the alert came in Sunday night, with the search suspended overnight and resumed early Monday. By 11am, following the involvement of 64 firefighters and 32 vehicles, the Mediterranean maritime prefecture announced it was ending the search. According to initial findings, the semi-rigid inflatable struck the yacht near its front port side, with no water ingress detected in either hull so far.
Marseille's public prosecutor has opened a judicial investigation, entrusted jointly to the Antibes coastal nautical brigade and the Mediterranean maritime gendarmerie group, to determine whether navigation rules were respected and examine possible negligence by the yacht's captain. Investigators will also need to establish the exact conditions of those aboard the inflatable at the time of the collision.