Giant Search for 6 Aussies in Missing Schooner

by Sail-World Cruising on 6 Dec 2007 An aerial search covering 1,100 kilometres of the South Pacific from Auckland to Norfolk Island failed Wednesday to find any trace of a large schooner with nine people on board which is overdue. A New Zealand rescue team is continuing its search for a missing yacht carrying nine people, including four Australians.

The search was launched after it failed to arrive at the New Zealand Bay of Islands port of Opoua on Saturday as scheduled.

The 28-metre Alvei left Port Vila in Vanuatu on November 13, and concerns about its progress were raised late last month. The Alvei is described as a training vessel that gives passengers the experience of travelling on an old sailing ship.

Reports said the ship's manifest listed four Australians, three US citizens, a New Zealander and an Englishman - ranging from 27 and 66 years of age.

Maritime New Zealand's Rescue Coordination Centre said the boat is believed to be equipped with communication facilities and a distress beacon, but had not responded to radio broadcasts and its emergency locator beacon had not been activated.

The sailing ship is now officially considered overdue.

Julia Lang from the New Zealand Rescue Coordination Centre says a plane had spent the afternoon trailing the yacht's scheduled route. The search plane was staying overnight at Norfolk Island, along the Alvei's planned route, and a Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion with sophisticated maritime surveillance equipment was expected to join the search on today (Thursday).

'An aircraft has begun searching along the route between Opua and Norfolk Island and is due to arrive in Norfolk Island by about 5:00pm tonight [local time],' she said.

'At this stage there has been so sightings of the Alvei and no contact.'