12:55 PM
Police say the latest search for the bodies of missing Blenheim friends Ben Smart and Olivia Hope will be an enormously difficult task.
The navy vessel HMNZS Moa will comb the seabed in Cook Strait near the entrance to Tory Channel next week.
The area is one of the deepest stretches of water in the Marlborough Sounds.
Detective Senior Sergeant John Rae says evidence from witnesses who gave evidence at Scott Watson's trial has led detectives to the area.
Passengers aboard an Inter-Island ferry saw Watson's boat at the head of Tory Channel on New Year's Day 1998, when Ben and Olivia disappeared.
Detective Senior Sergeant John Rae says he doesn't want to raise hopes that the bodies will be found as the Tory Channel is a difficult area to each.
The search is set to begin on Monday.
- IRN
Difficult search area for Ben and Olivia detectives
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