Body of ship's captain found in sea

UPDATE

The body of the captain of a container ship who fell overboard last night has been found floating in the sea.

The man, who has not been named, fell from the small container vessel Forum Fiji II about 320km south of Tonga last night.

Crew members stopped the ship and threw him a life buoy and other flotation devices with lights and flares before searching all night.

They were joined by a Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion at first light today.

The Orion was about to leave the search area when it spotted the life buoy and directed the ship to the area, about 13 nautical miles away.

Paul Harrison, a spokesman for the National Rescue Co ordination Centre which ran the search from Wellington, said as the Orion was leaving to return to New Zealand the ship's crew was trying to recover the body of the captain.

The crew used a high frequency radio to raise the alarm last night and ask for help.

- NZPA