Search for a boat carrying 20 people sailing to Florida through the Bermuda Triangle called off

• A search for a boat carrying 20 people from the Bahamas to Florida through the Bermuda Triangle has been suspended.
• The blue and white 29ft Mako Cuddy Cabin boat left Bimini in the Bahamas on Monday and was expected to arrive in Lake Worth Beach, Florida the following day, the Associated Press reported.
• An area of roughly 17,000 square miles, almost double the size of Massachusetts, was searched for 84 hours and included part of the Atlantic Ocean often referred to as The Bermuda Triangle.
• While there have been many mysterious disappearances of sea vessels and aircraft, experts including the National Ocean Service say they do not occur more in the ocean region than anywhere else.
• No information regarding the name of the boat or the identity of the 20 people onboard has yet been released by the authorities.

The US Coast Guard has suspended its search for a boat that sailed from the Bahamas to Florida through the Bermuda Triangle carrying 20 people.

The 29ft Mako Cuddy Cabin boat left Bimini in the Bahamas on Monday and was expected to arrive in Lake Worth Beach, Florida the following day, reported to the Associated Press.

The small craft traveled through the Bermuda Triangle, an area of approximately 500,000 square miles in the sea that is unofficially bordered by Bermuda, Florida, and Puerto Rico, According to the Miami Herald.

Petty Officer Third Class Jose Hernandez told the New York Times that it was first reported missing after a family member said they hadn't received the call they were expecting from a relative on board.

On Thursday afternoon, the Southeast Division of the US Coast Guard tweeted: "Coast Guard crews have searched approximately 20,000 square miles (51,800 square kilometers) for about 43 hours."

Later that day, the USCG Southeast Division also tweeted a map of the area which had been searched up till then.

—USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) December 31, 2020

However the following day, it announced that its search with various partner agencies, including the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and Bahamas Air Sea Rescue would be suspended.

Captain Stephen V. Burdain, of the US Coast Guard, added: "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the missing people. I encourage anyone with information about the people aboard to contact us as soon as possible."

In total, an area almost double the size of Massachusetts was searched for 84 hours and included part of the Atlantic Ocean often referred to as The Bermuda Triangle.

While there have been many mysterious disappearances of sea vessels and aircraft in the Bermuda Triangle, experts including the National Ocean Service say they do not occur more in the region of the Atlantic Ocean than anywhere else.

No information regarding the name of the boat or the identity of the 20 people onboard has yet been released by the authorities.