Man who fell from capsized boat still missing

A man who fell from a boat that capsized in Manukau Harbour on Thursday evening is still missing.

The 74-year-old man was one of two men in an 18-foot boat that overturned while crossing the Manukau Bar via the south channel about 5pm on Thursday.

People on a nearby boat managed to pull one man from the water unhurt, but the elderly man did not surface.

Both men were believed to have been wearing life jackets at the time.

The elderly man has not yet been found, Sergeant Constable Craig Hughes of the Auckland Maritime Police Unit said today.

However, police were "not actively searching at this stage".

A search was conducted yesterday by police ground staff on the coast, he said, but nothing of note was found. The police Eagle Helicopter had also carried out sweep searches of the area.

The search teams will continue to scan the area.

"The police helicopter will from time to time carry out a shoreline search when it can, subject to light and weather conditions and the state of the tide," Mr Hughes said.

"The helicopter is better doing a search of the shore at low tide, because it exposes a lot more."

The 74-year-old man was among a group of family and friends out fishing together. The people in the boat that rescued the other man were friends of the missing man and his family.