Police will this morning resume the search for a man who disappeared off a ferry in Foveaux Strait.
A search and rescue operation was launched shortly after 6pm this evening after the man failed to get off the ferry when it landed at Half Moon Bay on Stewart Island.
No one saw the man go overboard, but police say they believe they know his identity and are sure he was onboard when the boat left Bluff.
“All we know is, he was seen on board halfway across the strait and when the boat got there he was missing,” says Senior Sergeant Dave Raynes of Invercargill.
Two helicopters, one with night vision gear, scoured the area while Riverton and Bluff coastguards and a tugboat from Bluff conducted a grid search. The ferry also retraced its journey to look for the man.
The search was suspended at 10:30pm, but will resume at first light this morning – weather permitting.
The man, in his 40s, was travelling alone and is not from Southland, police say.
Riverton Harbourmaster Ian Coard told the Southland Times survivability time in Foveaux Strait at this time of year is about four-and-a-half hours.
But, “there’s still the possibility he has got to an island or a buoy or something like that,” he says.
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