Update: "RIB Pirates" boss missing in the North Sea - sailor remains missing

UPDATE: According to initial findings by the newspaper "Bild", the missing inflatable boat driver is believed to be the Hamburg entrepreneur Frank Procopius. As head of the Hamburg speedboat company "RIB-Piraten", Procopius helped to ensure that tourists and visitors to the Hanseatic city could experience a fast and action-packed harbour tour. On Monday, the Hamburg native set off for the North Sea. In the afternoon, the signal from his boat was suddenly lost. At around 5.30 p.m., his wife finally contacted the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre and filed a missing person's report. As part of a large-scale search operation, Procopius' boat was finally spotted and stopped around 25 nautical miles (46 kilometres) northwest of Cuxhaven with the engine running but without a skipper. It is unclear what happened at sea.

More about the RIB Pirates:

• RIB Pirates - One, two, three - full throttle!

First message from 30 April: A rigid-hulled inflatable boat was found on Monday (29 April) around 25 nautical miles northwest of Cuxhaven. The boat was in operation, but there was no trace of people.

The second marine casualty occurred in the early hours of 30 April. A naval helicopter discovered a sailing yacht north of Amrum. Both skippers were reported missing by their partners. The German Maritime Search and Rescue Association (DGzRS) is coordinating the search efforts, but neither man has yet been found, the DGzRS confirmed on Tuesday afternoon in response to an enquiry from BOOTE.

Search also from the air

The missing dinghy driver was presumed to be between Cuxhaven and Helgoland and the search for him had been going on for several hours. At the same time, a sailor in a sailing boat about 8.5 metres long was reported missing. He had left Heligoland with the destination Hörnum on Sylt. When he did not arrive even after several hours, his wife informed the DGzRS Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre. Search units that were no longer needed were released from the inflatable boat search and immediately deployed to help the overdue sailor. At 1.30 a.m., the sailing boat was spotted north of the island of Amrum by a navy search and rescue helicopter. The yacht had run aground in the Wadden Sea. The skipper was not on board. Fire brigades along the coast of Schleswig-Holstein as well as official vehicles, helicopters and a reconnaissance aircraft were involved in both extensive search operations.

According to the DGzRS press office, the search has been suspended by the DGzRS. So far, neither the dinghy driver nor the sailor have been found. The weather in the German Bight was good, but the water temperature was only around ten degrees Celsius. There is no connection between the two cases, according to the DGzRS.