Jump-ship Chinese fisherman still not found

A search was resuming today for a Chinese fisherman who jumped ship on Saturday after police divers in Wellington harbour failed to find traces of him.

A train passenger told police yesterday she saw what looked like a body floating near a reclamation area off Kaiwharawhara suburb.

But divers and crew from the Lady Elizabeth 3 police boat found no traces.

"We can't discount the possibility it was a snorkellor because there were some in the area at the time of the sighting," Wellington police communications manager Kaye Calder said.

Police spoke to some of the snorkellors but they had seen nothing either, she said. A shoreline search was resuming today.

The fisherman was one of five working on a South Korean squid boat who stuffed their clothes into plastic bags and jumped overboard.

Four men were found and returned to the boat but the 31-year-old man remained missing.

- NZPA