A crew member of a Canadian Coast Guard ship has been lost at sea off southern Newfoundland.

The agency said in a release Wednesday that an extensive search and rescue effort for the man was ended Tuesday evening.

He was reported missing on Monday morning when the CCGS Vincent Massey arrived in St. John鈥檚, N.L.

The coast guard says there was an 鈥渋mmediate鈥� search on the vessel for the crew member and when he wasn鈥檛 located the sea and air search began.

Wednesday鈥檚 announcement said the agency was 鈥渄evastated to confirm鈥� the crew member had been lost at sea, adding that decisions to end searches are 鈥渘ever taken lightly.鈥�

The coast guard says the employee was last seen on board Sunday evening as the vessel sailed along the northeast coast of Newfoundland.

Spokeswoman Kariane Charron says no other details are being provided at this time and that the RCMP will be investigating the matter as a missing person case.