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The boat at the centre of a rescue in Foveaux Strait on Tuesday was carrying Fish and Game officers, the Southland Times reports.
The claim was made in an anonymous email to The Southland Times yesterday that said the men should "know better about loading a boat for a fishing trip since they like telling everyone else when and where they can fish".
The email also named an officer from Fish and Game Christchurch as one of those involved in the incident.
Fish and Game Invercargill's Maurice Rodway confirmed staff member Zane Moss, believed to be one of the six men rescued, was on leave and believed to be going to Stewart Island.
The men refused to comment when they arrived with their gear in Bluff from Stewart Island on a passenger ferry last night.
Two of the men loaded the gear into two four-wheel-drive vehicles, strapping a liferaft on to an empty boat trailer, while the others tried to evade a Southland Times photographer.
On Tuesday the men were rescued by the Stewart Island ferry, after their boat, laden with provisions for five days, hunting and diving equipment, which included eight dive tanks, and 240L of additional fuel, started taking on water.
Constable Nick Wells, of Stewart Island police, said the men's vessel would be transported back today.
- NZPA
