Fishermen oblivious to search

Photo / Daily Post

Two commercial fishermen will face the music tomorrow after rescue authorities spent almost three days looking for them, believing they were in trouble.

National Rescue Co-ordination Centre spokesman Kevin Banaghan said the skipper of the 10m Sandra Fay contacted the Far North coast guard at 3.30pm on Wednesday saying the boat would return to Whangarei because of engine problems. A search was launched when the boat did not show up.

"Given they had reported engine trouble, we assumed they had lost all power and were floating around," said Banaghan.

A mayday call was broadcast to boats in the area every three hours and a plane was sent 110 nautical miles off the coast of Whangarei to search.

Meanwhile, the two brothers on the boat had decided to continue to Gisborne, radio switched off, oblivious to the search. "It's selfish. It's an ongoing concern for us that some boaties aren't tuned in to the radio," said Banaghan.

The search was called off yesterday morning after a "sheepish" call from the Sandra Fay. "He had turned his cellphone on and got a message from a friend saying people were worried about them," Banaghan said. "Then they turned the radio on and heard the mayday call being relayed."

Police and Maritime New Zealand had been informed, said Banaghan. A Maritime NZ spokeswoman said they would investigate.

Commercial boats must be tuned into VHF Chanel 16, the international distress channel, at all times. Moana Pacific Fisheries manager Rod Blake, which contracts the brothers, said he would talk to the skipper tomorrow.