French authorities have stopped searching for three Danish yachtsmen who are believed to have been on board a trimaran which was found drifting without its crew in the Bay of Biscay on Saturday.

An air and sea search operation, which has been under way since Saturday, has now been called off, with French authorities asking vessels in the area to keep an eye open for the Danes.

Admiral Fleet Denmark contacted Funen police on Saturday evening after French authorities had searched the drifting vessel.

“They informed us that they had found papers belonging to two Danes who live in Funen. We have contacted the families who have told us that the missing Danes are not in Funen,” says Funen Police Ch. Insp. Niels Erik Nymark.

He added that Funen police had been contacted on Monday by another member of the family who said that a third person, who was supposed to have arrived in Billund on Sept. 30, had not come home and was believed to have been out sailing in France.

An international search request has been issued for the three men aged 55, 34 and 33.

Nymark declined to provide any further information.

FACEBOOK – Follow Politiken’s News in English