Investigators said they believe the vessel was being used for human smuggling.
The Coast Guard was combing the waters off eastern Florida Tuesday afternoon, looking for 39 people on a boat that appears to have capsized.
The vessel may have been part of a “human smuggling venture,” the Coast Guard said.
The Coast Guard said it had received a report from a good Samaritan who rescued a man clinging to the vessel, roughly 45 miles east of Fort Pierce Inlet.
The survivor said he allegedly left Bimini, Bahamas, on Saturday night, and their boat encountered turbulent weather. No one was wearing a life jacket, according to the survivor.