“The fisherman was found alive at the end of the day [on Wednesday], after a day of intense searches,” Rodrigues Teixeira told Lusa news agency.

“By the end of the day the fisherman was found alive, relatively well”, he said, adding that the man was found 12 nautical miles north of the parish of São Jorge, in the north of the island of Madeira.

Rodrigues Teixeira said that the fisherman, a resident in Câmara de Lobos, “has a fishing vessel in the north and usually leaves through the port of Porto Moniz”.

Upon being found, he was taken by helicopter to Madeira Airport and then transported to Dr. Nélio Mendonça, in Funchal, “just in case”, he added.