HOPES FADE FAST FOR MISSING SIX
HOPES of finding six mates feared drowned when their fishing trawler sunk on Monday night are fading fast.
Cairns- based Ben Leahy, 45, Eli Tonks, 33, Adam Bidner, 33, Zach Feeney, 28, Adam Hoffman, 30, and Chris Sammut, 34, had worked together for years, gathering sea cucumbers off the Queensland coast.
Survivor Ruben McDornan’s wife Sammy yesterday tearfully described the missing six men as “like family’’, as she arrived in Gladstone to reunite with her husband.
He miraculously survived after a passing catamaran found him floating in a bay after 12 hours in the water, with his wife describing him as “sore but OK’’.
“We’re so grateful that he ( Ruben) is alive,’’ she said. “But our thoughts are with the boys missing at the moment because they’re all like family, so we just need everybody to keep positive for them. We’re really thankful to the people that rescued Ruben and to the people out there searching for the boys. And just for everybody’s support.’’
Friends described the men – who were all fit and experienced divers – as a close- knit crew who were inseparable, both at work and socially.
When not working, they were known to love spending weekends together fishing and drinking beer.
The distraught relatives of the six men emerged from a police briefing late yesterday in tears as the chances of survival plummeted. Family gathered at Gladstone police station – where the search was being co- ordinated – for a private briefing in the afternoon and were overcome with emotion when they left at 4.30pm.
Experts had told police they had until the end of searching yesterday to find the men alive if they were in the water unsupported. As the deadline passed, only debris believed to be from the capsized trawler had been discovered, including a wetsuit, fuel tank and a buoy.
Six vessels, six helicopters, a fixed- wing aircraft and an amphibious vehicle were searching around Bustard Bay, near the Town of 1770, where the trawler Dianne ( pictured) is believed to have sunk.
Private vessels joined the search and relatives were even considering a private search. They pleaded for additional resources to be thrown at the rescue effort.
Search and rescue co- ordinator Sergeant Jeff Barnett said another day of severe weather had hampered the search, with poor visibility and helicopters repeatedly forced back to base.
“On advice from our medical team, they tell us towards the end of the afternoon the chances of survival unsupported is negligible,” he said. “The best- case scenario is that we find six people in a life raft.
“That’s what we’re aiming for at the moment, but it’s not looking real promising.” There was no indication that the life raft had been deployed by crew, police conceded.