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Rewai Karetai on the deck of Easy Rider at Bluff, New Zealand
Rewai Karetai on the deck of Easy Rider at Bluff, New Zealand. Karetai is one of eight people feared dead after the fishing boat sank. Photograph: Supplied to AP
Rewai Karetai on the deck of Easy Rider at Bluff, New Zealand. Karetai is one of eight people feared dead after the fishing boat sank. Photograph: Supplied to AP

Eight feared dead after New Zealand fishing boat sinks

This article is more than 12 years old
One survivor and one body found after Easy Rider was capsized by wave but not reported missing for 14 hours

Eight people are feared dead after a fishing boat sank off New Zealand's coast on Thursday and was not noticed missing for 14 hours.

Crews rescued one survivor and found one body. Poor sea conditions and a long delay before authorities were alerted to the accident had police describing as bleak the prospect of finding anyone else alive.

Police said the Easy Rider had been carrying three crew members and six passengers when it capsized near remote Stewart Island. One survivor was found 18 hours later in the frigid sea, clinging to a barrel.

The survivor told police he was on deck just after midnight when the boat was hit by a wave and capsized. He managed to cling to the overturned hull for about two hours before it sank.

Policy said on Friday they had retrieved the body of a 30-year-old man near where the boat sank and that several vessels and helicopters were continuing to search.

It took 14 hours before authorities knew the boat was missing. It was supposed to meet with a helicopter on Thursday afternoon and when it didn't arrive the helicopter pilot was the first person to raise the alarm.

New Zealand media reported the boat had been taking an extended family to a remote island so they could hunt for mutton birds, which are considered a local delicacy, and that two children were among the missing.

Two months ago the captain of the Easy Rider, Rewai Karetai, was hailed as a hero when he helped rescue three people from another fishing boat that capsized in the area. Two people died in that accident. Karetai is among those missing in the latest sinking.

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