Body found in missing diver search

A body has been found following a search for a diver who went missing in the Marlborough Sounds.

A 49-year-old man was reported overdue about 10.20am on Saturday after he failed to resurface from a dive north of Stephens Island, the northern-most point of the Marlborough Sounds.

The National Dive Squad found a body about 8.30am on Tuesday, on their first dive of the day.

Senior Launch Master Sergeant Richard Kennedy, of Wellington Maritime Police, said the body was found close to the dive site.

The National Dive Squad had been on the scene since Saturday but dives were dependent on weather and tidal conditions, Kennedy said.

‘‘It was an unpredictable tidal area and the depth of the water was an issue.’’

Emergency services and Marlborough fishermen assisted in the search on Saturday, with one boat finding a fin in the water.

It was still not known what went wrong beneath the water, Kennedy said.

Waikawa Dive Centre owner Stuart Scaife said he rented scuba gear to the diver and understood he was from Christchurch. The diving community in Marlborough had been saddened by the diver’s disappearance but the discovery of the body would offer some sort of closure, he said.

Diving was a dangerous sport that could put your body under tremendous stress, Scaife said.

‘‘It could have been a multitude of things that went wrong.’’

It was not a legal requirement to have a medical check for recreational diving, Scaife said.

Constable Todd Nicholas, of Blenheim police, said the diver had been with a ‘‘dive buddy’’ and several people were on board the boat when the diver failed to resurface.

The divers had done the right thing by going at slack tide, where the water was not as affected by the tidal flow, Nicholas said.

A police spokeswoman said formal identification of the body was yet to take place and no further details were available until then.