Body of missing fisherman found

Photo / Thinkstock

The body of a fisherman has been found four days after he fell from an inflatable boat.

Member of the police national dive squad found the body of Maxim Efremychev, 25, around 1030pm yesterday about 1km south of the northern end of Omaha beach.

Mr Efremychev and a fishing mate had been tossed in to the sea while trying to retrieve an oar on Saturday. His mate managed to swim to shore and raise the alarm.

The dive squad and police launch Deodar have been scouring the area and sonar equipment from the navy was used in the search.

Mr Efremychev's partner had posted a series of messages on Facebook saying she was hopeful he would be found alive.

"I'm getting weaker every hour but I'm never losing hope as God is with you now. Come home," she wrote.

Photos on her page show Mr Efremychev holding a newborn baby, which were captioned "father and son time".

The incident is the second in the Rodney area in recent months.

On October 14 Stewart Atutahi, 37, from Snells Beach and 22-year-old Nicholas Stubbs from Warkworth went missing after setting off in a fibreglass boat from Martins Bay.

Mr Atutahi was skippering the boat and his body and wreckage of the vessel were found soon after the men were reported missing.

Mr Stubbs' body was found on November 1 near Kawau Island in the Hauraki Gulf.

The deaths have been referred to the coroner.