Rescue centre appeals for sightings of missing boat

Searchers will today try and gather more information about the recent movements of an overdue fishing boat following an unsuccessful air search yesterday.

The 13m-long Mi Jay, with three crew on board, left Nelson on November 22 and was expected to head for fishing grounds off the Canterbury coast. The vessel was due back within two weeks but there has been no contact with it since it left port.

The Mi Jay's owner contacted the Rescue Coordination Centre NZ (RCCNZ) yesterday to report the vessel overdue.

An Air Force Orion left Auckland at about midday and searched an area from Banks Peninsula to the southern end of the North Island.

"We searched the area where it was expected to go, plus a larger area on either side ... and we didn't find them, so we actually need more information.

"We're continuing our inquiries and phoning different ports and people and actually seeing if anyone has seen it," Ms Brook said.

She said the vessel was equipped with radios and distress beacons and it was unusual that there had been no contact.

"You would expect some communication between the owner and the vessel's skipper at some point within those 14 days, but there has been nothing."

Ms Brook said it was concerning that RCCNZ was unable to make contact with the vessel via radio.

"They have got the communications equipment and for some reason they are not using it."

She said there had been a few southerlies, but no major weather events off the east coast over the past couple of weeks.

Port Nelson Fishermen's Association vice-president Grant Orr said the Mi Jay had been around for many years and he believed it was a sound boat, having fished in waters near Stewart Island.

"It's been around long enough to have proved itself," he said.

Mr Orr said it would be unusual for a skipper not to make contact after seven days.

He said his own vessel had returned from the Chatham Islands last week, passing the area where the Mi Jay would have been fishing but did not see it.

The swell in the area could easily build up and make it rough for a small vessel like the Mi Jay, Mr Orr said.

- NZPA