A French adventurer who previously crossed the Atlantic in a barrel is missing and presumed dead at sea just weeks after beginning a solo crossing by row boat.

Jean-Jacques Savin, who was 75, had set out on 1 January from Sagres in Portugal for Martinique in the Caribbean on what was planned as a three-month voyage.

He was posting updates of his journey on Facebook and wrote last Wednesday (19 January) that despite strong winds and issues with his specialised row boat’s solar panels, he was “not in danger”, as BBC News reports.

But on Thursday (20 January) two distress beacons were activated from Savin’s position en route to the Azores, and the following day his vessel Audacieux was found overturned.

Despite earlier reports that Savin’s body had been found in his cabin, his daughter Manon confirmed on Sunday night (23 January) that his boat was found empty and a body was not recovered.