A multi-vehicle search strategy based on the simplex algorithm is proposed. The strategy is decomposed into a hierarchical scheme with three layers. The upper layer is described by a discrete-event system. The output of this layer is a set of way-points for the vehicles and it is used by the middle layer in order to coordinate the motion of the vehicles. The lower layer drives each vehicle to a way-point. The paper compares two possible discrete coordination strategies: one minimizes the travelled distance of the vehicles and the other avoids their trajectories to cross. Minimization of vehicle intercommunication is also studied.