Atlantic rescue crews respond to distress signal, but no sign of vessel

Search crews located a white beacon in the Atlantic Ocean but didn't find any signs of a ship in distress following a distress signal received Friday, Joint Task Force Atlantic says.

The beacon was detected Friday afternoon about 1670 kilometres east of St. John's and about 780 kilometres from the coast of the Azores, a cluster of Portuguese islands.

The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax responded and JTF Atlantic reports three merchant ships, two Canadian Forces Hercules planes from CFB Greenwood, as well as Portuguese aircraft were dispatched to the search area.

The Portuguese aircraft spotted the beacon, but didn't find any debris, JTF Atlantic says. Crews scanned a large search area and tried to find the origin of the beacon.

There was no signs of a ship in trouble.

The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre says the company to which the beacon is registered said it had no distress situation.

Despite not finding a vessel in distress, the commander of Joint Task Force Atlantic says crews responded appropriately to the emergency beacon.

"While this event is very unusual, our response is to always consider the worst possible case and respond accordingly," Rear Admiral John Newton said in a statement.

"Indeed, big storms have plowed up the Atlantic these last few days and it is not inconceivable that a shipping accident could have occurred. So we search."

Canadian search and rescue crews worked with Portuguese authorities, Newton said, adding "considerable forensic work" was going on behind the scenes to determine what happened.