Chinese navigator Guo Chuan has lost contact with his onshore crew during his solo nonstop trans-Pacific voyage from San Francisco to Shanghai, his management team said on Wednesday.

Guo, who set sail on his trimaran named Qingdao China from the United States west coast city of San Francisco on Oct 18, lost communication with his onshore supporting crew on Tuesday afternoon after a regular briefing about sailing conditions to his crew members and relatives via a satellite phone, according to Guo's team.

An onshore GPS tracking system found Qingdao China slow down right after the contact, about 900 kilometers west of Hawaii, but Guo didn't respond to either satellite or internet calls.

An aircraft sent from Hawaii found Guo's boat and the toppled-over sail, but found no trace of Guo onboard on Wednesday. Two more airplanes and some rescue vessels had been sent to the accident area.

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 10/27/2016 page4)