TOKYO - SUPPORTERS of missing Japanese hot air balloonist Michio Kanda said Saturday they still hoped to find a clue to his whereabouts after the US Coast Guard suspended its search in the North Pacific.

The 58-year-old enthusiast lost contact a day after leaving suburban Tokyo on February 1 for a 60-hour, 9,000-kilometre cross-Pacific journey to the US state of Oregon.

He had been aiming to beat his own record for the longest time in the air.

'But we still have a shred of hope. The US Coast Guard has told us they could resume the search if a new clue is found,' he said.

Mr Kamishima said supporters had asked Japanese Coast Guard and other government agencies to let them know about any clues.

They are also collecting information over the Internet and calling on ships in the North Pacific to report if they discover anything that could be related to Kanda, he said.

The US Coast Guard earlier reported finding debris near Alaska but it has not been confirmed that it was from Kanda's balloon.

Being unable to relocate the floating debris, however, the US Coast Guard said on Friday it suspended the search after 16 days of operations.

The search ended 'with no sign of Mr Kanda or the survival capsule attached to the balloon's gondola', it said in a statement, adding that the search had been hampered by the bad weather.

Kanda, a town government employee, has twin daughters, a son and grandchildren.

His balloon, equipped with a satellite phone and a global positioning system, has no propulsion system so Kanda was depending solely on jet streams to blow him across the Pacific.

The veteran balloonist set a record of 50 hours and 38 minutes in the air after leaving Calgary in Canada and landing in the tiny town of Jordan in the US state of Montana in 1997.

His balloon, 'Starlight', which measures 45 metres by 50 metres is the biggest in the world and the second biggest in history, according to the Japan Balloon Federation. -- AFP