No lifeguards will be on hand to watch over the crowds flocking to Myrtle Beach State Park for the summer season, according to the state Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.

The agency recently canceled its lifeguarding contract with Boardwalk Beach Services, which went out of business after its owner was jailed, and is now searching for a way to continue providing lifeguards.

The company's demise also hit Huntington Beach State Park, where some lifeguards are now back on duty but are spread thin, the state agency said.

The beach at Myrtle Beach State Park is one of the Grand Strand's most dangerous because of the influx of people there, Horry County Beach Patrol Sgt. Darris Fowler said.

For now, no new vendor has been found and it is unclear when guards will return, said Marion Edmonds, spokesman for the Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department.

"We are working to put it together as quickly as we can," Edmonds said. "At this moment, we have not been able to put together a package to have them out there."

The agency is discussing partnering with Horry County to provide lifeguards, he said. Horry County Public Safety Director Paul Whitten, who oversees beach patrols, could not be reached for comment.

Lifeguards have worked at Myrtle Beach State Park since 1962, the beach patrol's Fowler said.

The state has always overseen services along the stretch of park beach and should not discontinue the work now, he said.

"My opinion is, you have an expectation of safety when you are used to having a lifeguard service," Fowler said.

"It would be like saying, 'We aren't going to have Highway Patrol service,'" Fowler said.

The state has four parks along the S.C. coast, Edmonds said. Myrtle Beach and Huntington provide lifeguard services.

Neither Edisto Beach State Park nor Hunting Island State Park in Beaufort, which is the busiest park in the state system, provide lifeguard services, Edmonds said.

The state agency is looking for a new vendor now, which could require a bidding process.

Easa Sayadchi's defunct Boardwalk Beach Services previously provided the lifeguards, but Sayadchi lost the contract after falling into legal trouble.

Sayadchi was imprisoned in Columbia on charges of second-degree burglary for breaking into a female acquaintance's home and vandalizing it with a crowbar.

He also was arrested in August 2003 on charges of assault and battery of two boys on his company's parasailing boat.

Myrtle Beach City Council lost some lifeguard services when its contract with Boardwalk Beach Service fell through.

The city requires that franchise owners have no felony convictions and are not serving parole or probation.