KEY POINTS:
Police have released more details of the two victims of yesterday's boating accident in the Marlborough Sounds but say they cannot name them until all next of kin have been notified.
Detective Inspector Jason Hillgrove said both men killed after the boat they were on collided with a
moored vessel were aged 38 and from Blenheim.
Members of the public in Waikawa Bay at the time of the accident helped transport police and ambulance officers to the scene.
Mr Hillgrove said one of the men died on impact and the other while he was being treated by emergency services.
The dead men were among six people on the 11-metre aluminium Shikari, owned by New Zealand King Salmon, which collided with a 91-tonne moored ex-naval vessel about 4pm.
One man, aged 48, suffered serious injuries to his chest and shoulder and another, in his twenties, suffered head and chest injuries.
They were flown to Wellington Hospital where one underwent surgery overnight to stabilise his condition. Both remain in a critical condition in the hospital's intensive care unit.
Another man and a woman on board the boat were taken to Blenheim's Wairau Hospital for treatment.
The woman remains in hospital being treated for face and arm injuries but the man has been discharged.
Mr Hillgrove earlier said it was unlikely that the dead men would be named today as it was taking "some time" for family to located and notified.
A number of investigations are now under way into how the accident happened as the King Salmon boat was returning staff to Picton's Waikawa Bay from one of its outlying salmon farms.
Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) chief investigator Tim Burfoot has arrived in Picton and will work alongside both police and Maritime New Zealand.
Mr Hillgrove said police were today examining the accident scene with Mr Burfoot.
Rescue helicopter staff say they were told the cause of the collision was likely to have been sunstrike.
Mr Hillgrove said that would be looked into, along with the possibility of a mechanical fault.
The Shikari was thought to be travelling at about 45km/h when it slammed into the moored 91-tonne Flightless, formerly the navy's inshore patrol craft Moa.
The 27m Flightless ended her naval service in January 2007, and was sold in March that year to Picton builder Steve Woledge, for private use in the Marlborough Sounds.
He confirmed that Flightless had been hit while at anchor, but would not comment further.
Flightless was holed well above the waterline and remained at its mooring.
The King Salmon boat was lifted from the water last night with a badly buckled front end.
Picton deputy harbourmaster David Baker said it was a "very serious" accident.
He said Flightless was "large" and was safely moored and there was no obvious reason for the collision.
"The weather was fine. For some reason there's been an accident and we don't really know any reason for it at this stage."
- NZPA
