DATE: 5 November 2010 TIME: 5.00pm

Search suspended for man overboard

The search for a man missing overboard from the 14 metre yacht Wild Goose has been suspended.

An extensive search has been conducted for a New Zealand man who was reported missing approximately 150 nautical miles west-south-west of Rarotonga. The search has found no sign of him.

The yacht Wild Goose left Rarotonga on 3 November and was bound for Opua, Northland. The man fell overboard at around 2pm yesterday. Attempts were made by the two people remaining on board to rescue him, but these were unsuccessful. He was not wearing a lifejacket.

The Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) received a 406MHz distress beacon alert from the yacht just after 4pm yesterday and has since then coordinated a search covering a 390 square kilometre area.

A Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) P3 Orion arrived on scene after dark yesterday and made contact with the two remaining people on board the yacht via VHF radio. That aircraft spent the night in Rarotonga and continued the search this morning. It has now returned to New Zealand.

The container vessel Forum Pacific was tasked to assist in the search and arrived on scene at around 6 this morning and continued to search until mid-afternoon. A French Naval aircraft arrived on scene at around 7 to assist with the search, but returned to Papeete, French Polynesia at approximately 1pm. The crew on board the Wild Goose also assisted in the area and search for the missing crew member.

Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator Kevin Banaghan says the missing man has now been in the water for more than 24 hours. There has been no sign of the missing man, despite multiple search craft covering the area. While the water temperature in the area is relatively warm at around 23 degrees Celsius, his chance of surviving is thought to be low.

“Sadly, despite an exhaustive search from the air and on the water over the past 24 hours, there has been no sign of the missing man,” RCCNZ Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator Kevin Banaghan said.

“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 new information came to light.

More than 390 square kilometres had been covered in the search, he said.

“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.

ENDS

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