The search for a 37-year-old lifeguard reported missing in the Lido area of Funchal was suspended at 6:11 PM without him being found.
According to the National Maritime Authority, the man is believed to have been swept away by a wave during the afternoon. The operation, coordinated by the Captain of the Port and the Local Commander of the Funchal Maritime Police, will resume at sunrise.
The alarm was raised at 2:18 PM by a member of the public nearby. Crews from the Funchal Lifesaving Station were deployed by sea, Port Authority and Maritime Police personnel searched from land, and a Portuguese Air Force aircraft joined the operation.