for their loved ones, still hopeful that they would soon be found.

But the official air and sea search, co-ordinated by Harbour Radio, was suspended after covering 6,500 square miles of water.

Harbour Radio are now hoping a local boat or passing ship will sight the three men, who failed to return after setting out on a fishing trip last Tuesday.

They are brothers Mr. Randy (Scorcher) Outerbridge, 30, Mr. Jeffrey (Jakes) Outerbridge, 25, and their friend Mr. Geaige Minks, 26. They were in the 21-foot Cutty Cabin Simply Red .

"We still have high hopes,'' Mr. Minks' aunt Mrs. Phyllis Symons said last night.

"There are boats going constantly by. We feel something's going to come up.

"We have support from family members who are out there in boats looking.'' Mrs. Symons said her cousin, fisherman Mr. Kenny Minks, was one of those searching.

She praised those involved in the search effort since last week, saying they had "done a fantastic job''.

A Harbour Radio spokesman said the official search had been suspended until "further developments''.

A US coastguard Hercules plane was joined by a visiting cargo ship, the Abitibi Orinoco , in the last official sweep on Saturday. A US helicopter and the Government rescue boat St. David have also been searching.

Yesterday morning a Marine Police boat searched along the South Shore. "At this point we have exhausted every possibility as to where to look, given the initial information we have been given on this incident and everything we know,'' said the spokesman.

"The problem is, the areas you're searching in get bigger and bigger.'' Bad weather and lack of a definite location have affected the effort, he said.

"We have not given up completely because we're still conducting a communications search. We've alerted any vessel coming in proximity to Bermuda to see if anything is sighted.

"If a ship sights anything they will call us.

"If further information was to be received we would take it into consideration, and it's always a possibility the search could be commenced again.

"We offer our condolences to the relatives. We're doing everything we can.'' ANXIOUS SEARCH -- US coastguard pilot Lt. Jenkins and his colleague ATS Carpenter search for the three missing men off Bermuda on Saturday. Their C130 Hercules plane is able to fly low and slow over the ocean.