The Coast Guard is calling off its search for the crew of a capsized fishing boat in the Gulf of Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The search has been suspended for five people believed to have been aboard a fishing vessel that capsized in rough seas in the Gulf of Alaska, the Coast Guard said Monday.

The search lasted nearly a day and covered more than 108 square nautical miles.

“We stand in sadness and solidarity with the friends and family of the people we have been unable to locate over the past 24 hours,” Chief Warrant Officer James Koon, search and rescue mission coordinator for Coast Guard Sector Southeast Alaska, said in a statement Letter opinion.

The Coast Guard began searching after the crew of the Wind Walker sent a mayday call at 12:10 a.m. Sunday that the 50-foot (15-meter) boat would capsize off Point Couverden, southwest of Juneau. The Coast Guard attempted to obtain additional information as it mobilized a response, but the crew did not respond, according to a Coast Guard news release.

The state ferry Hubbard overheard the transmission and was the first to arrive on the scene, followed by a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and a response boat, the release said. A winter storm warning remained in effect as emergency services were faced with heavy snow, wind speeds of up to 60 mph (96 km/h) and sea levels of 1.8 meters.

Two Coast Guard cutters – the Healy and the Douglas Denman – took part in the search. Responders found seven empty cold-water diving suits and two flashing lights in the water, but no other signs of the boat or its crew.

The helicopter crew spotted the cold-water diving suits from the air near Spasski Bay, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) southwest of Point Couverden. Four of the survival suits were in the bay waters and three were seen on land, Hightower said.

The suits were empty and it was not immediately clear whether they had been worn, he said.

The full-body suits are made of a neoprene-like material “that can be pulled over clothing very quickly and easily and is designed to survive in cold water,” Coast Guard Petty Officer John Hightower said. They also have a flotation device and an inflatable cushion so that a person in the water can rest their head and stay afloat.

The area searched by the Healy and another cutter, the Douglas Denman, was quite small because they had the GPS coordinates of the Wind Walker’s distress signal, Hightower said. Since the crew reported that the ship overturned, it is possible that it capsized and sank.

“That seems to be the most likely, but we’re trying not to rule anything out as we haven’t been able to confirm it ourselves,” he said.

Up to 17 inches of snow fell in Juneau over the weekend and the water temperature was about 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7.22 degrees Celsius), the National Weather Service in Juneau said.