The search for a man whose empty boat was discovered early on Wednesday morning in Kenmare Bay in Co Kerry continued yesterday under the command of the naval vessel LE Ciara.
The man, named locally as Mr Anthony Murphy (52), a father of five from Carks, near Tuosist, had gone out in an 18ft fibreglass pleasure craft on Tuesday evening. However, the boat was not discovered until Wednesday morning and the coast guard was alerted at around noon.
There were local reports of a boat moving in an erratic fashion on Tuesday night near Dinish Island, on the bay near Carks.
The 60hp boat was discovered on the opposite side of the bay, near Templenoe, with life-jackets on board and its fuel tanks emptied.
A spokesman for the Department of the Marine said it appeared Mr Murphy had fallen overboard.
A large-scale search was launched immediately. The Shannon-based rescue helicopter went to the scene, as did the Castletownbere Lifeboat and Coast Guard Unit, the Derrynane Community Inshore Rescue Service and the Waterville Coast Guard Unit.
In addition to the local rescue groups and lifeboats, a large number of local vessels joined the search on both days. Mr Murphy is a well-known architect and engineer in the Kenmare area.
Naval divers and the local subaqua club yesterday conducted an underwater search which was expected to be completed by last night.
Hopes of finding the missing man were, however, fading, with one of the leaders in the expanded search describing the operation as very much "hit and miss".
Among those taking part on both days was the mayor of Kerry, Mr Michael Healy-Rae, a friend of Mr Murphy.