CAPE HATTERAS — Coast Guard teams, including personnel from Elizabeth City, are searching this afternoon for a man who fell overboard from a merchant vessel approximately 50 miles east of Cape Hatteras.

The master of the merchant vessel Ice River contacted the Coast Guard around 10:30 a.m., saying a 33-year-old crew member was missing.

Coast Guard Sector North Carolina diverted a crew aboard a C-130 airplane from Air Station Elizabeth City to begin a search. The crew was conducting training in the vicinity when they were called. A second Hercules crew took off from the air station at approximately 1:30 p.m. to join the search.

In addition, a Navy E-2 Hawkeye crew was diverted to help with the search.