Body in the water report prompts rescue chopper call-out

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

The Trust Tairāwhiti Rescue Helicopter and another rescue chopper from Hawke's Bay were called out last night after a report from a passing cruise ship about a possible body in the water off Gisborne's coast.

Maritime New Zealand initiated the search just before 6pm after a passenger on board the Ovation of the Seas reported seeing what they thought might be a body. The ship was about 25 nautical miles off the coast of Gisborne at the time.

“We searched the waters off Gisborne for more than two hours,” a Trust Tairāwhiti chopper spokesperson said. “We were joined about half an hour later by a Hawke's Bay Rescue Helicopter crew, who had been in Gisborne delivering a patient to hospital.”

Each helicopter had a fuel capacity of two hours to spend in the search area by which time low supplies and failing visibility forced them to call off the search.

Maritime NZ said unless further information was received the search was unlikely to be resumed this morning.

The Ovation of the Seas is a quantum-class cruise ship owned by Royal Caribbean International that can hold almost 5000 passengers. It departed from Sydney, Australia on March 11 for a 12-day round trip to New Zealand and was on its way to Tauranga when the sighting was reported.