Editor’s note: Shortly after publication, the Navy announced it had suspended the search for the missing sailor. The story and headline have been updated.
The Navy suspended its active search for a sailor assigned to an aircraft carrier who officials believe went overboard earlier this week north of mainland Australia.
The service announced that it had suspended the search at 12:40 p.m Wednesday, roughly two days after the sailor — assigned to the USS George Washington — was reported missing.
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The sailor was reported overboard on Monday, and the Navy immediately launched a search effort in the Timor Sea where the ship was operating, a spokesperson for the carrier told Military.com in an emailed statement Tuesday evening.
The Navy has not released the name of the sailor, citing service policy; it is being withheld until 24 hours after the service notifies next of kin. The spokesperson, Lt. Cmdr. Mark Langford, previously said that the circumstances surrounding the overboard incident were under investigation.
“Our priority is the safety and well-being of our sailors,” Langford said prior to the Navy announcement that it had ended the search.
He noted that the weather conditions were clear and water temperatures hovered around 78 degrees when the sailor was reported overboard.
However, it is unclear from the Navy’s statements how much time passed between when the sailor actually went overboard and when he was noticed missing.
The Navy trains crews to quickly spot sailors who go overboard, as an immediate response from the ship offers them the best chance of survival — though even then that’s not a guarantee.
In some cases, however, sailors are determined to have gone overboard only after they haven’t been seen by their shipmates for many hours.
The reasons behind most sailor overboard incidents, which unfortunately occur with some regularity, typically remain undisclosed.
The Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Robert Smalls, the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Shoup, and various fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters joined the carrier in the search for the missing sailor starting on Monday.
The Royal Australian Air Force also contributed a P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, and the Royal Australian Border Force sent multiple vessels to aid in the search effort, which were “focused in the vicinity of the ship’s operating area,” Langford said.
The George Washington Carrier Strike Group was operating in the Timor Sea, part of the Indian Ocean between the island of Timor and Australia, as part of an exercise known as Talisman Sabre 2025.
The exercise is the largest for Australia and has been conducted biennially since 2005.
This year’s iteration is expected to last until early next month and involves nearly 20 nations, including the U.S. Talisman Sabre 2025 is meant to demonstrate the partnership between the U.S. and Australia in the Indo-Pacific.
It was unclear which part of the exercise the USS George Washington was participating in at the time that the sailor was reported overboard. It had been launching rotary-wing aircraft the week prior as part of the exercise.
— Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.
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