7 dead, 1 missing in New Zealand fishing boat accident

[rooster59]

7 dead, 1 missing in New Zealand fishing boat accident

NICK PERRY, Associated Press

 

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Seven people were killed and another person was missing after a chartered fishing boat disappeared from view in large waves at the entrance to a harbor near Auckland, New Zealand, authorities said.

 

Police Inspector Duncan Hall said the boat Francie was carrying 11 people when it got into trouble on Saturday afternoon in Kaipara Harbour. He said rescuers managed to pull three survivors from the water, who were taken to a local hospital. A search for the missing person was continuing Sunday.

 

Patrick Holmes, the chief executive of Coastguard New Zealand, said crew members from the boat notified the coast guard that they were attempting to cross a sandbar at the entrance to the harbor at about 2 p.m. Holmes said the coast guard raised the alarm an hour later after the boat didn't report back and could no longer be reached on its marine radio or by mobile phone.

 

Holmes said other boats in the area reported to the coast guard that they could no longer see the boat, although he wasn't yet clear if the boat had sunk. He said an investigation was underway.

 

He said waves at the sandbar were about four meters (13 feet) high at the time of the accident. Sandbars are formed by sand building up on the seafloor, something which can happen at harbor entrances where the ocean meets calmer harbor water.

 

"All sandbar crossings are dangerous. They shift with storms and tides, so the bars are not in exactly the same position," Holmes said. "Because it's a disturbance of the seafloor, the action of the waves becomes distorted and irregular."

 

Eyewitnesses told Television New Zealand that rescuers in helicopters plucked the survivors from the water and placed them on a beach, where locals kept them warm until ambulances arrived.

 

Police said they were still trying to establish what happened to the boat and how its occupants ended up in the harbor, which is about 75 kilometers (47 miles) northwest of Auckland.

 

Inspector Hall said rescuers recovered five bodies from the water soon after the accident. Another two bodies washed ashore at nearby beaches and were found early Sunday. An air and sea search for the missing person was suspended overnight and resumed on Sunday.

 

The Facebook page for Francie Charters says its boat Francie is licensed to carry up to 20 people with two crew members. It shows customers using fishing rods to catch snapper and other fish, and encountering dolphins.

 

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-11-27

[drgoon]

TIP those lost lives. Condolences to their families and loved ones.

 

The boat looks around 30 - 35ft. A 4 mtr wave is going to be extremely difficult to negotiate in this vessel if you aren't driving straight through or running with it and don't have enough power.

[Kiwiken]

RIP those lost. Sad fact going to sea is always a calculated risk. Looks this time like they lost

[rosst]

On 27/11/2016 at 6:17 PM, drgoon said:

TIP those lost lives. Condolences to their families and loved ones.

 

The boat looks around 30 - 35ft. A 4 mtr wave is going to be extremely difficult to negotiate in this vessel if you aren't driving straight through or running with it and don't have enough power.

Yes, timing and adequate power are everything when crossing a bar. 

Possibly it broached and it is all over. 

It may have been prudent to ask everyone to fit life vests but that can scare the chickens. 

RIP and condolences to our Kiwi brothers.