Police seek info on mayday call for missing boat off Wellington coast

An Interislander ferry joined the search for the missing boat on Monday night.

Police are pleading for information on a mayday call made overnight that said a boat, with multiple people on board, was in trouble off the Wellington coast.

A search will resume this morning at first light.

The call said the boat was about three nautical miles from Karori Rock.

The spokesperson said crews from police, Coastguard Wellington, CentrePort, Wellington Airport Fire and Rescue and the Interislander ferry searched the area until 2.30am but nothing was found.

“A Search and Rescue team and police also checked along the shoreline and boat ramps, but nothing of note was located.”

The spokesperson said the search will resume at 7am.

They also urgently want to hear from anyone directly related to the report. They are asking anyone with information to call 111 and use the reference number P063602359.

Other information can be reported at 105.police.govt.nz, by clicking “Update Report” and using the same reference number.

A spokesperson from the Coastguard said they were called at around 10.45pm on Monday.

They said they launched the Spirit of Wellington and the Reremoana with 10 volunteers on board to find the boat in trouble.

The spokesperson said their crews searched until 3am but nothing was located.

They said they would be supporting police again this morning if the search resumes.

A spokesperson from the Rescue Coordination Centre said they assisted police and the Coastguard with drift modelling and helped relay the mayday calls to other boats in the area at the time.

A spokesperson from KiwiRail said Kaiārahi was the first on the scene at 11pm and began searching.

“The police rescue boat Lady Elizabeth IV arrived about 10 minutes later and coordinated the continued search effort.

“Kaiārahi was dismissed from the search at 1.30am and proceeded into Wellington, arriving at 2.40am.”