Dutch Coastal Village Turns To Tech To Find Lost Fishermen

Volunteers from the local fishing community in Urk have launched a campaign using DNA analysis and artificial intelligence to locate the remains of fishermen lost at sea (Credit: AFP)

Jan van den Berg stares out at the sea where his father vanished seven decades ago -- lost in a storm just days before his birth. Now aged 70, he clings to the hope of finding even the smallest fragment of his father's remains.

In Urk, a fishing village in the northern Netherlands, the sea has long been the lifeblood for families -- but has often taken loved ones in return.