“We have stopped search operations as we lost hope of finding the two missing men. Our search parties have not come across the boat the two used or any other signs that might give us a clue into their disappearance,” said spokesman for the Eastern Province Border Guards Col. Muhammad Al-Ghamdi.

“This is the first time the Border Guards failed to obtain the slightest hint of what happened in a missing persons case.”

Hassan Ali Al-Jibran and Hassan Muhammad Al-Habib, both 25, were residents of the village of Sanabes in Tarut Island, located off the coast between Qatif and Ras Tanurah in the Eastern Province. They had gone on a fishing trip and were expected to return the next morning.

Their relatives called Border Guards when they failed to return.

The Border Guards sent out 10 boats and 25 divers to look for them. When their attempts to locate them failed, they sought the help of naval forces, who used helicopters and boats to scour the area. Coastguards in Bahrain, Qatar and Iran were also alerted, but no sign of them was found in their waters.

The search party’s efforts over the past eight months did not yield even a single clue to indicate that the two might have drowned.

Border Guards say if their boat had sunk, some plastic cans or any of their floating belongings would have been found.

There are rumors that pirates kidnapped the pair. But this theory has been rejected as no one has contacted the relatives of Al-Jibran or Al-Habib demanding ransom money.

“We still hope that they will come back even though we have received no news about them over the past eight months. My strong feeling is that they are alive somewhere. My brother is a good swimmer and diver,” said Al-Jibran’s brother Shoaib.

“We are deeply worried about Hassan. I want to see him as soon as possible,” added Al-Habib’s father Muhammad.

Al-Habib’s wife said her husband used to call her whenever he was going to be late.

“But this time after he went out on that Friday no call came. I was worried and all my attempts to call him failed,” she said.