Frenchman Jean-Jacques Savin, 75, who was trying to row across the Atlantic, is still missing off the Azores. The Bordeaux prosecutor’s office announced on Monday that it had opened “an investigation for worrying disappearance” the day after the announcement by the Portuguese navy of the end of the search to find the body of the Frenchman, resident of Arès in the Arcachon basin.

In Lisbon, a spokeswoman for the Portuguese navy clarified on Monday to AFP that “there are no more means committed to search for the French citizen but a notice has been issued for the ships to be in the area be alert” for any clues to find him.

Conflicting information

During the weekend, contradictory information maintained the vagueness. His entourage had indicated on Saturday that the navigator had been “found dead” inside his canoe L’Audacieux, information then denied on Sunday by the Portuguese navy in a press release. “The search ended yesterday at the end of the day (even) without it being possible to find the victim,” she said.

A spokeswoman explained that during the rescue operation, the rescuers had “strong reason to believe that a body could be inside” the cabin of the boat. The canoe of the septuagenarian, who intended to become the “dean of the Atlantic”, was found upside down, as evidenced by a photo released by the Portuguese navy where we see the hull of the boat floating on the surface , then hoisted aboard one of his corvettes.

The sailor who made himself known by crossing the Atlantic in a barrel in 2019, pushed by winds and currents, had triggered his two distress beacons in the eight from Thursday to Friday, indicating that he was “in great difficulty”. During the last contacts, Jean-Jacques Savin was on his way to the island of Ponta Delgada, in the Azores archipelago.