One rescued, three still missing at sea after boat sinks in far north Queensland
Richard Dinnen - Queensland Editor |
Police say they hold grave fears for three men missing at sea since Saturday off the coast of far north Queensland.
Four men set out from Clump Point, near Mission Beach, on Friday night in a five-metre fibreglass fishing boat.
An air and sea search began when relatives said the men had not returned as planned.
Queensland Police Inspector Brett Jenkins said one man has been rescued, but three are still missing.
“About 11:00am on Saturday, we believe that the vessel started to take on water and quickly sank somewhere in the vicinity of the Barnard Islands.
“They weren’t able to activate the EPIRB on the vessel or don any of the life jackets.”
The four on board are a 24-year-old Mission Beach man who owns the boat, two men from Vanuatu and one from Tonga.
The rescued man was found floating in the water on Sunday afternoon off the North Barnard Island Group, about 10 kilometres off the far north Queensland coast and 90 kilometres south of Cairns.
Police said he could have been in the water for up to 30 hours before he was rescued.
The search for the other three men continues.
