The Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs on Saturday expressed regret that there was no news of Croatian national Dino Miskic, the captain of a ship than sank in the Atlantic late last month.

The French Regional Operational Centre for Surveillance and Rescue (CROSS) on the island of Martinique said on Friday that the search for the missing members of the crew of the Bourbon Rhode ship had been suspended. The ship sank in the Atlantic on September 26, about 2,000 kilometres from the nearest mainland, the French island of Martinique.

The ship had a 14-member crew and its captain was Dino Miskic, a Croatian national. The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs expressed deep regret that the search had failed to shed light on the fate of the missing captain, noting that it was aware of the great effort made by the French authorities and relevant institutions to find the missing seafarers.

The search lasted for a week and resulted in the discovery of three crew members who survived the accident and another four who died. The operation involved specialised ships and aircraft, as well as all merchant ships that were passing through the area where the Bourbon Rhode sank.

CROSS said it was the most extensive search operation at sea ever conducted by French services.

The operation was suspended because it was highly unlikely that a further search would produce results, given the circumstances of the accident and the fact that an area of 110,000 square kilometres, nearly twice the size of Croatia, had been searched.

However, all merchant ships passing through the area of the accident have been instructed to watch the area carefully and pass on any useful information to the relevant institutions, the Croatian ministry said.