Mayor Island was the nearest location where an empty boat was found capsized off shore from Tauranga this week. Photo/file
Mayor Island was the nearest location where an empty boat was found capsized off shore from Tauranga this week. Photo/file
Mystery surrounds the disappearance of a person after their upturned boat was found at sea two days ago.
Tauranga Coastguard are among the many organisations and volunteers helping search for a person believed to be missing after their empty boat was found capsized near Mayor Island this week. Photo/file
Police say the family of the missing person have asked for privacy as the sea and air searches continue offshore from Tauranga today. Police will not say where the person is fromor if the missing person is a man or woman.
A plane spotted a capsized boat about two nautical miles south of Mayor Island about 3pm Tuesday and alerted police and Tauranga Coastguard.
Helicopters scoured the sky as boats searched the ocean until late that night, and for most of yesterday.Bay of Plenty police district operations manager Inspector Kevin Taylor said police believed there was potentially at least one person on board the 5.6m fibreglass Sea Nymph named Optimist.
Mr Taylor said a search and rescue operation got under way, and a spotter plane and rescue helicopter completed an extensive grid search in good visibility but could not find anyone in the water.
Another search began yesterday with privately contracted helicopters and some volunteer vessels.
Mr Taylor said police were in contact with the boat owner's next-of-kin.
No one knew. There was no report and no one called in that they were sinking. It wasn't known who was on board, how many were on board.
The boat was recovered and brought back to Tauranga. Family asked that further details not be released.
Mr Taylor asked anyone who located anything in the water or along the shore that appeared to have come from a boat to GPS log it immediately and contact Coastguard on the marine radio channels.
TECT Trustpower Rescue Helicopter pilot Liam Brettkelly searched the ocean from the skies for two hours before returning to refuel on Tuesday night.
Mr Brettkelly said he was looking for people in the water but did not know who or how many.
"No one knew. There was no report and no one called in that they were sinking. It wasn't known who was on board, how many were on board."
A low-flying aircraft spotted the overturned boat and notified police.
The helicopter was instructed to stand-down while it was in the process of refuelling. The search was called off shortly later.
