Mike Plant who disappeared while crossing the Atlantic Ocean alone.

A spokesman said the search was suspended "because it was becoming impractical, if not impossible to map out another search area in the vast (Atlantic) ocean.'' He said the decision had nothing to do with a body that was recovered in the cold waters of the North Atlantic on Wednesday by a Spanish fishing vessel.

He said 200,000 square miles of ocean had been scanned so far, with no sightings of the yacht.

If US Navy and Coast Guard planes continued searching, he said, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Because the ship is inaccessible by helicopter, positive identification cannot be made for a week, he said.

But the description of the body did not appear to match Mr. Plant's, he said, although it was "badly decomposed''.

Mr. Plant, 41, from Jamestown, Rhode Island, left New York on October 16 on what was expected to be a two-week crossing on his 60-foot yacht Coyote to Les Sables d'Olonne, France. He had planned to take part in a solo round-the-world yacht race.

The Coast Guard said in a statement it was suspending the active search "pending further developments,'' meaning it could be resumed if any sightings were made.

The yacht was last spotted by a freighter four days after it left New York.

Mr. Plant radioed the freighter that he had lost electrical power but planned to continue his voyage.