Search scaled back for three men missing at sea off far north Queensland
Richard Dinnen - Queensland Editor |
Police are scaling back the air and sea search for three men missing in waters off the far north Queensland coast.
Four men set out from Clump Point, near Mission Beach, on Friday night in a five-metre fibreglass fishing boat. Police said there were problems with the outboard motor, the boat took on water and eventually sank.
One man was found on Sunday floating in the water near 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.
Inspector Brett Jenkins said an extensive search has not located the three men, but an item from the boat has been found.
“We may have located an item of interest off the vessel, but we still have to conduct some enquiries with the family to confirm that.
“We will start to scale back our search, but we will focus more on the coastline, particularly from the Cowley Beach area north.
“Given that it’s coming up to 72 hours since this incident occurred, we feel the most efficient use of our resources is to base them along the coastline, the shoreline, and conduct a more thorough search of that area.
“We’ll continue to check the Cowley Beach area and move north, but that will be done on assessment each day, depending on factors such as wind and tide.”
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 man who was rescued on Sunday has been treated in Innisfail hospital for hypothermia and exposure. He’s expected to make a full recovery.
Inspector Jenkins said the men had stayed out at sea on Friday night but encountered engine trouble when on their way back to shore on Saturday.
“They encountered some difficulty with the outboard. While they were trying to fix it, the boat became swamped, and sank very quickly.
“The three missing men, the information we received, is that they made an attempt for landfall, and that was the last the witness saw of them.”
People are being asked to report any debris or information to police.
