Search for trawler crew stood down

A RNZAF Orion. File photo / Supplied

The search for three men missing at sea following the sinking of a fishing vessel in the Southern Ocean this morning has been stood down.

Mike Roberts, Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand rescue mission coordinator, said the decision to stop searching for the missing men had been difficult.

"Sadly, the chances of survival are now nil," said Mr Roberts in a press release this evening.

"The P3 Orion has been unable to locate the sixth life raft which indicates to us it has gone down with the vessel. This means the three men have been in the water for 12 hours.

"This is far and beyond the maximum time a person would survive in 7 degree water temperatures, even if they had been wearing full immersion suits."

Mr Roberts said RCCNZ understood the men had not been wearing immersion suits, which means their maximum survival time was around three hours.

"Our condolences go out to the families and friends of the deceased today."

Forty-five survivors were rescued from five life rafts after the New Zealand chartered Korean-registered Oyang 70 sank approximately 400 miles east of Dunedin about 4.40am today.

The 82-metre trawler had 51 foreign crew - from Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines and China - on board.

The bodies of three Indonesian crew were subsequently recovered, but three men, the ship's Korean Master and two Indonesian nationals, remain missing.

Earlier this afternoon, Mr Roberts conceded it was not likely the men would be found alive.

"However, we are continuing to search the area, to ensure we have not missed anything or anyone," he said at the time.

A Royal New Zealand Airforce P3 Orion had completely covered a search area determined by RCCNZ and found no trace of the vessel's sixth and final life raft.

The Maritime Union of New Zealand said the death of three crew members was a tragedy.

General secretary Joe Fleetwood said initial reports the vessel capsized in good weather were "extremely disturbing".

The union would work with the International Transport Workers Federation to provide any help it could to crew members and to find out why the ship sank.

Fishing boats rush to rescue crew

Six fishing boats in the area rescued 45 crew from life rafts who were reported to be cold and shaken but doing "okay".

It is believed that two of the crew rescued this morning by the Talleys fishing vessel Amaltal Atlantis were suffering from "mild hypothermia".

Tony Hazlett, of Talleys, said the Oyang survivors were taken off liferafts after the Amaltal Atlantis responded to a mayday call at 4.28am this morning. He was unsure if any of the survivors had been in the water.

"There is still three people missing. Obviously you can read into that it doesn't look particularly good for the three that are missing. But the vessel is doing everything it can to locate them."

It was unclear what caused the Oyang 70 to sink.

"It is my understanding that it sank within 10 or 15 minutes. We got there as quickly as we could."

The surviving crew were "in as good a health as could be expected".

The Amaltal Atlantis crew were doing their best to "warm them up and get some warm food into them".

Marine medics and stocks of medicine were on board if required.

The Amaltal Atlantis will transport the survivors to Christchurch once the search was concluded.

This trip would take between 35 and 40 hours.

"We do need to get (the survivors) back (to shore). It's a pretty stressful situation they have been through."

Conditions foggy, cold

Air Force spokesman Kavae Tamariki said foggy conditions were making it hard for the Orion to search.

He said apart from the fog, the Orion crew would be searching in good weather conditions with wind at 12 knots.

"It won't be an issue, as long as the fog lifts," Squadron Leader Tamariki said.

He said the Orion can keep searching until 4pm when it will have to return to re-fuel.

The weather in the area has been reported as "good but foggy and extremely cold".

The Oyang 70 is believed to be a fishing factory ship, 82 metres long and with a displacement of about 1500 tonnes.

It is owned by the Southern Storm Fishing (2007) Limited, a Korean company which appeared in the District Court in Nelson earlier this year after the ship discharged light fuel oil into Nelson Harbour in February last year.

- WITH NZHERALD STAFF & NZPA