Fisherman missing, another survives 3 hours in water

One man is missing -- presumed dead -- and another is in a serious condition after spending more than three hours in cold seas when their dinghy capsized near Napier last night.

A spokesman for the Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter said the two men were setting nets from a small dinghy in the Clive River mouth around 11.30pm when they were swept out to sea.

Their cries for help were heard by others camping at the river mouth and a small torch beam was seen from shore.

However, emergency services were not alerted for another hour.

The helicopter crew, using night vision equipment and a "Nightsun" searchlight located one man, and a rescue swimmer was despatched from the helicopter to assist until arrival of a coastguard vessel.

Searchers spotted a second body from the air, but due to the dark and rough conditions, the coastguard was unable to retrieve it last night.

The dinghy was not located and is presumed to have sunk.

The survivor -- a Hastings man -- was flown to Hawke's Bay Regional Hospital where he was being treated for severe hypothermia.

Sergeant Nigel Stilwell of the Napier police said it was the uncle of the missing man who raised the alarm.

"I understand they were out there for about an hour before police were called," he said.

"First of all, he walked out to the river mouth but it was blacker than the inside of a cow out there and he couldn't see anything.

"Then he tried to raise the local constable without success, and finally drove to Napier police station.

"There was quite a significant language barrier and it was about 10 minutes before we could work out what had happened."

The missing man is a 32-year-old Aucklander of Polynesian descent.

The survivor had initially been "in pretty poor shape" but had recovered well, Mr Stilwell said.

It did not appear that either of the men had been wearing lifejackets.

"We've yet to establish what happened, but it looks as though it was a case of being ill-prepared."

- NZPA