U.S. Coast Guard crews launched a search for four missing divers off the coast of Cape Fear, North Carolina, on Sunday, officials said.
The four men were reported missing after they went diving off a leisure boat called “Big Bill’s” about 63 miles east of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina., around noon and never resurfaced, the Coast Guard said.
Coast Guard crews from sectors in Charleston, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina, deployed multiple boats and aircraft, including an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew and a HC-130 Hercules aircraft crew, to search for the missing divers about 50 miles south of Cape Fear. The area is near the state line between the two Carolinas.
Officials said the search for the four men would continue through the night on Sunday into Monday.
SMALL AIRCRAFT CRASHES IN RAVINE AT ALASKA’S DENALI NATIONAL PARK; PILOT, PASSENGER PRESUMED DEAD
Four men went missing while diving off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Sunday. (Reuters/Michael A. McCoy, File)
At the time of the search, officials said waves were 2 to 3 feet high with winds of around 11 mph.
COAST GUARD RESCUES 3 COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN OFF MASSACHUSETTS COAST
The identities of the missing divers were not immediately released.
U.S. Coast Guard crews have been searching for the four missing divers since Sunday. (Arun Sankar/AFP via Getty Images, File)
The many shipwrecks off the coasts of both states are a popular draw for divers. The area is known for hundreds of shipwrecks and is called the “Graveyard of the Atlantic.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
