American Atlantic rower, Nenad Belic, has sparked off a search 230 miles west of Ireland after his EPIRB alerted Falmouth Coastguard.

Three Nimrods, a fishing boat and a tanker are all joining the search as well as an RAF helicopter.

But 58 knot winds from the west-south-west and very rough seas have hampered the rescue effort. Belic set off in his rowing boat on 11 May from Cape Cod on the US East Coast destined for Bantry Bay in Ireland.