A Dutch sailor went missing weeks ago in the North Atlantic between Iceland and Greenland. The Icelandic Coast Guard and the Danish army searched for a wooden dhow with ships, planes and helicopters, but found nothing.
The search is made more difficult because the Dutchman does not have a GPS tracker with him. However, he will be in possession of the so-called personal beacon, through which a distress signal can be sent. It is not known why this device was not used.
Two weeks ago, the Icelandic Coast Guard posted a call on Facebook for sailors to monitor the boat, Laurel. The Icelanders also distributed a research message over the radio. There has been no active search for the Dutchman since Saturday 11 September.
Experienced sea sailor
The missing man is 63-year-old Eugene Eggermont from Harlem. His family calls him an adventurer, and in recent years he has sailed long distances across the Norwegian Sea between the Shetland Islands, Norway, the Faroe Islands and Iceland.
Eggermont left the Westman Islands on the southwest coast of Iceland on August 8. He told his family that he intended to cross to Greenland, hundreds of nautical miles to the west. There he was calling back around 22.
When his relatives had not heard from him a week later, they informed the Dutch Coast Guard. He contacted his Icelandic colleagues, after which the search began.
The family accepts the unknown fate of Eggermont. “We will most likely never find out what happened to Eugene.”
