Missing fishermen feared dead
Fishing boat and empty liferaft discovered but three crewmen not found
Searchers believe they have found a fishing trawler which sunk off the Canterbury coast with three men on board, all now presumed drowned.
Underwater scanning equipment pinpointed the missing FV Jubilee on the seabed a short distance from where the crewmen made a distress call on Sunday, Ocean Fisheries boss Andrew Stark said.
The three-man crew of the 16-metre vessel got into trouble and told authorities at 4.30am they intended to get into a liferaft. After beginning to search at 6.30am, sea and aerial search crews discovered an empty liferaft, locator beacon, fishing bins, documents and oil from the boat.
The search covered an area of approximately 50 square nautical miles. The last known point of the vessel was about 22 kilometres off the Rakaia River mouth where depths can reach 45 metres.
By 2.30pm, police shifted their focus to a recovery operation, indicating only a slim likelihood of finding the men alive.
Ocean Fisheries operated the fishing trawler and three other vessels out of Lyttelton. The company’s chief executive, Andrew Stark, said FV Jubilee was found shortly before 8pm by one of the company’s two vessels, Frontier and Legacy, involved in the search, using fish-finding equipment.
‘‘Yes the boat has been located . . . [it was] very, very close to where the mayday was issued,’’ he said.
Police dive squad members were en route to the scene after high seas and strong winds, gusting at 70kmh, did little to help search crews. Stark said the discovery would help the dive squad once they arrived.
Earlier, the search involved two Coastguard vessels, three commercial boats, a rescue helicopter and a fixed-wing search plane.
Stark said it was a ‘‘challenging time for everybody’’ involved.
‘‘Our focus and efforts haven’t changed. We understand the reasons behind the recovery phase . . . but we strongly want to get three crewmen back,’’ Stark said. ‘‘It’s not something we expected to wake up to this morning. It’s a bit of a shock.
‘‘At this stage, we don’t know what’s occurred. We know the vessel has sunk, but we don’t know the finer details of how or why.’’
The crew indicted in a distress call they would make their way to a liferaft. Initial reports from authorities that the crew were awaiting rescue in the raft have not been verified.
Stark said it appeared they never made it to the liferaft.
The FV Jubilee left Lyttelton on Saturday and was trawling for inshore fish species like elephant fish and gurnard. The three men on board the boat were all experienced, long-term crew members with families, Stark said.
‘‘There’s certainly no question the weather was fine for them to be operating. The boats would fish in the weather they were in without any problems.’’
Stark would not reveal further details about the missing men, except that they were not from Christchurch. ‘‘They were all good guys.’’ Stark acknowledged that the outlook for the trio was grim. ‘‘We’re not stupid in that regard. The conditions aren’t good, the situation is not good, but we will continue to hope and pray for the best.’’
Inspector Craig McKay said it remained a ‘‘mystery’’ as to how the boat had sunk.
It was hoped the weather would ease to allow police divers to carry out an underwater search in the next few days.
‘‘They may help to determine those causes,’’ McKay said.
The Motueka-based family of one of the fishermen declined to comment when contacted on Sunday afternoon. ‘‘We’re still waiting for some good news,’’ a woman said.
Senior Constable Paul Beaver said the sea and aerial search involved two Coastguard vessels, three commercial boats, the Westpac Rescue Helicopter and a fixedwing search plane.
‘‘Police are continuing the search for the crewmen but urge the public to stay away from the area due to the dangerous conditions in the area [Sunday].’’
The weather conditions were difficult, but crews were ‘‘managing’’, he said. ‘‘The sea status is terrible."
Margaret Lavery, shareholder of Cressy Fishing, which owns the boat, declined to comment other than to say: ‘‘It’s a tragedy.’’
About 11.30am, Garden City Helicopters general manager Simon Duncan was refuelling at Leeston Rugby Football Club, ready to head out for their third search of the area.
The crew had been searching since first light. They had found ‘‘a lot of debris’’, but no sign of the crew.
‘‘There’s been a lot of flotsam and jetsam,’’ he said. ‘‘But unfortunately they’re still missing. It’s a bit sad it’s taking so long.’’
Strong winds were proving ‘‘tricky for searching’’, he said.
The FV Jubilee is a 16-metrelong fishing trawler, based at Lyttelton Port.
It is owned by Cressy Fishing and operated by Ocean Fisheries Ltd.
The boat is seven years old, being launched by Stark Bros on January 30, 2008.
At the time, the boat was lauded as top-of-the-range and was believed to be the first commercial vessel in New Zealand to run on 100 per cent biodiesel.