Media release
February 11 2013

Missing boaties located by Coastguard rescue vessel

After searching for more than 12 hours, the two male boaties reported missing last night in the Far North have been located at 1314 hours today approximately 1 nautical mile off Okaituna Bay by Coastguard Whangaroa Rescue.

The boaties vessel named ‘Tsunami’ had broken down early yesterday afternoon but with no means of communication or flares on board, they had no way of drawing attention to their location and instead spent the night watching the search being conducted around them. They had lifejackets on board.

Once located, Coastguard volunteers assessed the two men, deemed them safe and well and provided them with food and water. They are now under tow back to Mangonui Harbour.

Coastguard takes this opportunity to remind people of the importance of carrying two forms of waterproof communication on board and familiarising themselves with Coastguard’s marine VHF channels before heading out on the water.

Tony Winyard, Duty Officer for Coastguard Northern Region, says “if we were contacted directly via marine VHF radio, our response time would have been a lot quicker and the amount of time it would have taken for them to be found would have been reduced considerably”.

For more information on Coastguard or our VHF marine radio operator courses, visit www.coastguard.org.nz.

ENDS

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