Search called off for Kiwi lost at sea

The search for a missing New Zealander who fell overboard from a 14 metre yacht yesterday, about 150 nautical miles west of Rarotonga, has been called off.

The Wild Goose left Rarotonga on Wednesday bound for Opua, Northland, and the man fell overboard about 2pm yesterday, the Rescue Coordination Centre (RCCNZ) said this morning. He was not wearing a lifejacket.

The two people remaining on board tried to rescue him, without success.

The man had been in the water for more than 24 hours, and there was no sign of him despite an extensive search covering more than 390 square kilometres, RCCNZ search and rescue mission co-ordinator Kevin Banaghan said.

The water temperature was relatively warm at 23 degrees celsius, but his chance of survival was considered low.

"After carefully reviewing the search effort, in the absence of any new information, the difficult decision has been made to suspend the search," Mr Banaghan said.

The search could be resumed if any more information came to light.

The RCCNZ received a distress beacon alert just after 4pm yesterday and asked a Royal New Zealand Air Force P3 Orion to join the search.

The Orion arrived after dark and made radio contact with the two people on board the yacht. The plane searched the area this morning, but returned to New Zealand today.

The container ship Forum Pacific arrived around 6am and searched until mid-afternoon, and a French naval aircraft searched the area before returning to French Polynesia this afternoon.

The crew on board the Wild Goose also joined searchers.

"We thank everyone involved in the search, including the Royal New Zealand Air Force, the French Navy and the crew of the Forum Pacific," Mr Banaghan said.

"Our thoughts are with the crew of the Wild Goose and the family and friends of the missing man."

- NZPA