Gosport missing man: Search continues as Gafirs reveals its role in operation with RNLI, police, Hantsar and Coastguard

The search continues for a Gosport man who is believed to be missing in the Solent.

The alert was raised just after 9pm on Friday when the man, who has not been identified, was reported missing. A search involving the police, the Coastguard and its helicopter, the RNLI, search experts Hantsar and independent volunteer lifeboat station Gosport and Fareham Inshore Rescue Service (Gafirs).

The search continued through the night and into Saturday morning. The Coastguard element of the search was stood down at lunchtime on Saturday, but the police operation is ongoing, and continues today, police have confirmed.

Gafirs has confirmed its role in the search, posting: ”Both the Joan Dora Fuller (Gosport Lifeboat) and the Ian Fuller ILB were tasked to respond. Working alongside Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, Coastguard Helo, Coastguard Rescue Teams and Royal National Lifeboat Institution Portsmouth Lifeboat, an extensive search operation was undertaken.

“As the search progressed, the crew also carried out a welfare check and continued working tirelessly with the other emergency services throughout the night and into the early hours. Crew remaining at the station were additionally deployed on foot at Stokes Bay by the request of local police officers using spare night vision equipment to assist with shoreline searching.

“At 2.41am crews were eventually stood down as other assets became available to continue the search operation. All crews remained at the station until approximately 3.40am, ensuring both lifeboats were fully refuelled, checked over and made ready for service again should they have been requested back into action.”