Queensland Police say a multi-agency search for a 44-year-old man reported missing from a fishing vessel near Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast on Friday is in the recovery phase.
Officers made the declaration Sunday afternoon, after a two-day emergency air and sea search failed to find the man reported missing Friday morning, 6 February.
Staff at the Westpac Rescue Helicopter said they responded to a call for help in the operation around 8am Friday after the discovery of an unoccupied vessel earlier that morning.
Multiple air and sea resources were deployed in an area from Point Danger to Yamba, including three Marine Rescue NSW vessels from the Point Danger, Brunswick and Ballina units on Saturday morning.
Volunteers said they were called to help Queensland Water Police in the search.
Marine Rescue NSW Inspector John Murray said twelve volunteer crew members joined the sea mission across three vessels, with the help of another eight radio operators.
Emergency services on late Saturday afternoon detected an inactive Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB), registered to the missing man, 14 nautical miles off Ballina, but said no other items or signs of life were found.
The search and rescue operation had transitioned into a recovery phase, Queensland Police on Sunday said, with officers saying they continued to be in contact with the man’s family.
They were appealing to anyone with information regarding the man’s location or welfare to come forward.
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