apparently gone overboard, Harbour Radio reported yesterday.

The unidentified crew member of the Belgian frigate Westhinder was last seen on Saturday, the spokesman said.

The frigate, along with seven German warships, is expected to arrive at HMS Malabar on Wednesday for a three-day visit.

A search for the man is under way about 800 miles northeast of the Island, the spokesman said.

In other marine news, a Coast Guard C-130 aircraft is searching an area about 600 miles northeast of Bermuda after a bulk carrier reported a distress call on Friday.

The Romanian-registered Baneasa was bound for Gibraltar from North America when she picked up a radio message from a craft reporting a fire aboard, a Harbour Radio spokesman said.

The ship diverted to look for the vessel, but found nothing.

Meanwhile, an emergency radio beacon picked up by Harbour Radio on Thursday was an apparent false alarm, a spokesman said.

A C-130 airplane and a helicopter searched for more than 12 hours after receiving a distress signal off the west of Bermuda.

The call from an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) was first picked up on Thursday.

A spokesman said that the signal appeared to be from approximately one and a half miles west, possibly on the reef.

But the search was called off shortly after the signal stopped sounding about 3 p.m. yesterday.