Fears held for 6 fishermen

A FOURTH man missing after a diving vessel capsized and sank off the Queensland coast has been named.

Wild weather was hindering the search yesterday for the six fishermen, who were heard screaming for help by a crewmate as he clung to the hull before the boat went under near Middle Island, about 20km north-east of Seventeen Seventy.

Clifton Beach man Adam Hoffman is one of six crewmen of the sea cucumber diving vessel Dianne who remain lost at sea.

Close friends say they are devastated by his disappearance and are hoping for a miracle, with one calling him a “survivor”.

Screams from the crewmen inside were heard by Ruben McDornan, who survived for 12 hours in heavy seas before he was plucked to safety after a yacht found him by sheer luck early yesterday.

The diving boat capsized at 7.30pm on Monday before it sank about midnight.

Mr McDornan is understood to have heard his crewmates screaming and knocking from inside the overturned vessel as he held on to the hull from the outside.

He is then understood to have spent six hours in rough seas and screaming for help before his lucky rescue.

Skipper Ben Leahy, an experienced fisherman, is also missing, along with crew members Eli Tonks, Adam Bidner and two others.

Search and rescue co-ordinator Sergeant Jeff Barnett said investigators didn’t believe any of the emergency position-indicating beacons on board the boat had been activated.

“It was only through sheer luck that a passing couple on a yacht managed to hear the screams of the individual that was rescued and he raised the alarm,” he said.

“If it hadn’t been for that we still wouldn’t know.”