Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — After a five day search that covered approximately 13,000 square nautical miles, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps are ending a search and rescue operation for a missing Marine, the Marine Corps said on Tuesday.
The Marine was reported overboard by the USS Essex on the morning of August 9, as the ship was conducting routine operations in the Sulu Sea west of the Philippines.
The U.S. Embassy in the Philippines, U.S. Coast Guard District 14, and Singapore Information Fusion Centre provided additional support to the search and rescue efforts that spanned approximately 13,000 square nautical miles of the Sulu Sea, Mindanao Sea and the Surigao Straight.
A press release from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit on Tuesday said the circumstances surrounding the Marines’ disappearance are currently being investigated.
“Only after exhausting every possibility through persistent and thorough search efforts, we have concluded the at-sea search and rescue effort for our Marine,” U.S. Navy Capt. Gerald Olin, who led the on-scene search and rescue operation, said in the release. “We appreciate the continued support provided to us from the U.S. Embassy and Philippine Government.”
The missing Marine has not yet been identified.
The 844-foot long USS Essex can transport and support a team of more than 2,000 Marines during an assault by air or land. The ship is based out of San Diego, California.
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