The US Coast Guard is searching for 38 missing people after a suspected 'human smuggling' boat capsized off the coast of Florida

• The Coast Guard discovered a man clinging to the hull of a capsized boat on Tuesday.
• The agency said 38 people remain missing after a boat capsized off Florida's coast. One body has been recovered.

US Coast Guard rescue crews are searching for 38 missing people after a boat suspected to be part of a "human smuggling venture" capsized off the coast of Florida.

A lone survivor was found clinging to the hull of an overturned boat about 45 miles east of Fort Pierce Inlet on Tuesday, the Coast Guard's Southeast Sector said on Twitter.

"The survivor reported he left Bimini, Bahamas, with 39 other people Saturday night and encountered severe weather, causing the vessel to capsize," the Coast Guard said on Tuesday. "This is a suspected human smuggling venture."

The survivor told the Coast Guard that no one on board had been wearing a life jacket, the agency said.

Crews involved in the search for the other missing people have pulled one body from the waters.

On Wendesday morning, officials called the situation "dire."

"The longer they remain in the water without food, without water, exposed to the marine environment, the sun, the sea conditions ... Every moment that passes it becomes much more dire and unlikely that anyone could survive in those conditions," Capt. Jo-Ann Burdian, commander of Coast Guard Sector Miami, told reporters during a press briefing.

The Coast Guard said that "multiple cutters and aircraft" were searching the 135-mile stretch between Fort Pierce Inlet and the island of Bimini, which is the westernmost district of the Bahamas.

Authorities had already searched an area of about 7,500 nautical miles — roughly the size of the state of New Jersey — as of Wednesday morning, according to Burdian.

In a separate report on Friday, the Coast Guard said it intercepted 88 Haitians crammed onto a sail freighter near Great Inagua, Bahamas. The Coast Guard jointly ran the operation with the Royal Bahamas Defence Force.

"Coast Guard crews continue to have a presence patrolling the waters around Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas, to ensure the safety of life at sea," the agency said in a Facebook post.

"Navigating the Florida Straits, Windward and Mona Passages in overloaded and less than seaworthy passages is extremely dangerous and can result in loss of life," it continued.