The 45-year-old man fell from his vessel, which was mooring at Gunness in the River Trent, during the bad weather.

Coastguard units and lifeboats resumed the search for the man earlier this morning but have so far been unsuccessful.

The man, who is believed to be Russian, was thought to have become tangled in ropes.

Watch manager Mike Puplett said: “A crewman from a ship called the Sea Melody, which was tied up on the River Trent in North Lincolnshire, was working on the upper deck with ropes and wires.

“We understand that while the vessel was moving from one jetty to another he got entangled in the wires and was pulled overboard into the River Trent and disappeared almost immediately from view.

“The helicopter was there within minutes using his infrared camera which looks for heat sources, which is the best bit of equipment you could have really.

“The helicopter searched for quite some time, in fact right to the limit of his fuel before he had to return to base, unfortunately we haven’t found anything yet.”

It’s believed that the missing crewman was not wearing a lifejacket when he fell, but he did have on high visibility clothing.