Military search and rescue crews help look for drifting boat off Vancouver Island

The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Victoria (JRCC) says it is assisting the RCMP with a search for a drifting boat off central Vancouver Island.

The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Victoria (JRCC) says it is assisting the RCMP with a search for a drifting boat off central Vancouver Island.

The JRCC was contacted by the RCMP around 11:30 a.m. Friday to help search for a "boat adrift in Baynes Sound, British Columbia."

Baynes Sound is a narrow body of water that separates Vancouver Island from Denman Island, south of Comox.

The JRCC deployed several crews to help with the search, including a CH-149 Cormorant Rescue Helicopter from 19 Wing Comox, an auxiliary Royal Canadian Marine Search & Rescue crew from Station 60 in Comox, and the Canadian Coast Guard ship, the Cape Cockburn.

All of the crews arrived in the area by noon to assist with the search.

"The tasked assets are searching the area at this time," said Pamela Hogan, public affairs officer for Maritime Forces Pacific, in a statement around 1 p.m.

CTV News has reached out to the RCMP for further details.