HM Coastguard stood down a search at about 04:55 on 19 October after a man from Johnstone fell overboard from mv Caledonian Isles east of Arran. The overnight operation ended with no one found, after a response that stretched through the early hours of Monday.
The incident was reported at about 20:30 on Sunday aboard the CalMac ferry. HM Coastguard said the response was coordinated with Police Scotland, RNLI and CalMac, turning one report at sea into a wide search across air and water.
HM Coastguard response
An HM Coastguard spokesperson said two helicopters and an airplane were sent to search, along with Coastguard Rescue Teams from Arran, Ayr, Ardrossan and Greenock. RNLI lifeboats from Girvan and Campbeltown also searched, giving the operation multiple layers and allowing the search area to be covered by air, shore and sea teams at the same time.
That scale matters because the incident began as a missing persons case, not a confirmed recovery. Police Scotland said it is assisting partners with the case, while the search continued through the night before the coastguard ended active operations at about 04:55.
Girvan and Campbeltown
An RNLI spokesperson said the Girvan RNLI team was launched just before 23:00 on 18 October, and Campbeltown RNLI launched shortly after 00:00 on 19 October, to support HM Coastguard in a search for a missing person overboard. The ferry crew from mv Caledonian Isles are assisting Police Scotland and HM Coastguard with an ongoing enquiry regarding a missing person.
HM Coastguard said the search was stood down pending any new information, so the case now sits in a quieter phase rather than an active rescue response. The question left for the man from Johnstone is the one the search could not answer overnight: whether further information will change the missing persons case now that no one was found.
