Author: Jamie Pringle, Reader in Forensic Geoscience, Keele University

Search and rescue for missing persons is always challenging for the specialist recovery teams involved, regardless of the environment they’re working in. But the teams looking for the missing aboard the Bayesian yacht which sank off the coast of Sicily leaving several people dead, have faced particularly challenging conditions. Even though the boat lies in relatively shallow water of 50 metres, underwater operations are affected by numerous factors which make them the most complex of search and rescue efforts. Best practice shows that searches should be coordinated, with areas that are being searched expanding outwards from the last known location.…