Nearly 22-hour search on Puck Bay. One of two missing jet ski users found

An evening alert and a night-time scramble

At 9:39 pm on Tuesday, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre received a report that two men who had set out on a jet ski from the Osłonino area had not returned before nightfall. A search and rescue operation was launched immediately: vessels of Poland's Maritime Search and Rescue Service put to sea, including the rescue boats R-3, R-43 and R-49 and the rescue ships Sztorm and Wiatr, joined by units of the Maritime Border Guard and the police. A duty W-3RM Anakonda rescue helicopter of the Gdynia Naval Aviation Brigade was scrambled. Throughout the night, a wide area of the bay was searched, including the waters off Osłonino, Rzucewo, Rewa, Kuźnica, the Rybitwia Mielizna sandbar and Jastarnia, with operations running in parallel from the air, on the water and along the shoreline.

The first missing man found at dawn

At 6:11 am the Anakonda's crew located one of the missing men, together with the jet ski, in the middle of the Rybia Łacha sandbank. The survivor was wearing a lifejacket; he was winched aboard the helicopter, handed over to medics waiting ashore and taken to hospital. The Gdynia-based helicopter flew successive sorties from 10:00 pm until 12:30 pm the following day.

The survivor's account allowed the search area to be narrowed. According to his statement, the jet ski had broken down as early as around 1:00 pm, and between 2:00 and 3:00 pm the men separated: one stayed with the drifting craft, while the other set off swimming towards Osłonino. The search sectors were modified on that basis.

More than a dozen units and a military drone

As the day went on, the search forces grew. Alongside the SAR service units, joined by the boat R-13 and rescuers of the coastal rescue stations, the bay was searched by the Border Guard vessels SG-301, SG-213 and SG-001 and the formation's patrol aircraft. A SAR helicopter from Darłowo declared readiness, while volunteer lifeguard units joined in: WOPR Sopot checked the Jastarnia-Hel stretch, WOPR Wejherowo the shoreline between Rewa and Rzucewo, and WOPR Gdynia also entered the operation. From the land side, the search was conducted and supported by groups coordinated by the State Fire Service from Puck and by the police. A military drone was also used, sweeping a designated area with its onboard observation systems. Successive sectors of the bay were searched, including the waters off Rewa, Rzucewo, Kuźnica, Jastarnia, Hel, Chałupy and Mechelinki and the Rybitwia and Mewia sandbanks, with crews rotated to keep the operation continuous.

The decision at dusk

At 7:30 pm on Wednesday, with the sun setting and darkness approaching, the decision was taken to suspend the active search - 21 hours and 51 minutes after the alert was received. The units still on the water completed the search legs they had begun and returned to their bases. The second missing man was not found.

The Gdynia Naval Aviation Brigade took the occasion to remind water users of the iron rules of safety at sea: check the weather forecast before setting out and make sure you carry proper buoyancy equipment, because the sea does not forgive mistakes.