The search for the tourist who went missing after renting an inflatable boat and taking it into the sea from the port of Latchi has been unsuccessful so far, Paphos police’s deputy operations director Michalis Nikolaou said on Wednesday.

He explained that two helicopters, one supplied by the police and one by the National Guard, and one boat supplied by the port police, as well as volunteers from the civil defence and members of the police, including officers on land and a drone, are all taking part in the search.

He said the man, a 35-year-old Polish national, set off from Latchi at around 10.30am on Tuesday. Then, he said, at 4.30pm, the boat was spotted off the coast of the nearby village of Argaka, around 200 metres from the coast, with no one on board.

After this, he said, the police were “immediately informed” and that the joint rescue coordination centre (JRCC) had then enacted the “Nearchos” rescue plan with the aim of locating him.