The crew called for help on Thursday 26 September after water began seeping into the back of the boat. The ship was in transit 1,200 miles off the coast of Martinique, when it was affected by the category 4 Hurricane Lorenzo. According to the press release, the Luxembourgish government's Administration of Technical Investigations (AET) was alerted to the ship sinking on 28 September.
Following receipt of the distress alert, several merchant navy ships were diverted to the scene of the wreck for assistance, as well as an aircraft from the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC).
The French navy sent a Falcon 50 vessel to assist but could only rescue three of the 14 crew members, discovering them in a boat on Saturday. 11 crew members remain missing.
According to RTL sources, no Luxembourger was on board the vessel at the time. The ship was confirmed to have sunk.
The Bourbon group, which owns the ship and specialises in marine services for the oil industry, has set up a crisis unit and is continuing to search for the missing crew members as weather conditions improve. The group is providing support to family members of the missing and will remain in contact with Luxembourg authorities, in particular the Luxembourg Maritime Administration.
The AET has opened a security investigation.
