Officials will decide this morning whether to continue with a search and rescue operation for a man who jumped off a sailing vessel about 50 miles northwest of Bermuda.The man, aged 49 and thought to be from the US, was wearing a personal flotation device and a personal location beacon when he left the boat on thursday.However, a Bermuda Maritime Operations spokesman said it had stopped emitting signals about two hours after he went into the water.“A male decided to jump off a boat,” said search and rescue specialist Brian Neilan, who was speaking from District Five Command Centre in Portsmouth, Virginia. “It happened at 16.28 Greenwich Mean Time (8.28pm Bermuda time), 40 to 50 miles northwest of Bermuda. He was reluctant to come back on. It’s obviously a strange situation.”.By 4.30pm yesterday afternoon Mr Neilan said that two lifejackets had been spotted in the water. But he said: “Nothing else at this time.”“A boat out of Bermuda was out (assisting with the search) last night, and we are sending out a Coast Guard C130.”A spokesman confirmed the search was suspended at nightfall and officials will reassess the situation at 8am Saturday morning.This afternoon, Bermuda’s Maritime Operations released this statement: “At 5pm Thursday afternoon the Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre received a call from sailing vessel Blue Moon reporting that a crew member had intentionally jumped overboard and was reluctant to come back onboard.“Captain and crew continued in vain to coax their colleague on-board and contacted the Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre for assistance. Marine and Ports pilot boat St David accompanied by Marine Police personnel was dispatched to a position 50 nautical miles west-northwest of Bermuda.“As dusk approached the crew of the sailing vessel continued to monitor their colleague in the water using a spot light on-board. As conditions deteriorated and with the passage of time the crew member was lost among the darkness and persons on-board continued in their attempts to relocate him.“Pilot boat St David arrived on scene and after an eight-hour search, returned to Bermuda Friday morning to refuel and return to the distress position.“The following aircraft/vessels are presently offshore searching; U. Coastguard C-130 fixed wing aircraft; Marine & Ports pilot boat St David, Bermuda registered container ship Livorno Express; and Hong Kong registered bulk carrier Golden Lyderhorn”.