Latest from search and
rescue:
4 July 2013: 6.00pm
The
Rescue Coordination Centre
New Zealand (RCCNZ) is continuing to assess all available information in the search for the crew of the American schooner Nina, which is missing en
route from
New Zealand to
Australia. Today's
radar search of more than 97,000 square nautical miles has been completed without any sighting of the vessel.
The 21m (70ft) Nina, sailing from Opua in the Bay of Islands to Newcastle with seven people on board, has not been heard from since 4 June.
On 15 June, RCCNZ obtained from
Iridium, a
satellite communications company, details of the approximate position and actual time (1150 NZST 04 June 2013) of the last
transmission from the
Nina’s
satellite phone.
Nigel Clifford, Maritime New Zealand’s General Manager
Safety and Response Services, said the position information was then factored into search area calculations, along with other available information.
“As concern for the vessel increased, RCCNZ made further enquiries with
Iridium about all transmissions made from the
Nina’s
satellite phone during the period of interest,” said Mr Clifford.
On 29 June it became known that the last
transmission (a text message), on 4 June, had not been delivered to its intended recipient by the Iridium system. RCCNZ, working with the United States State Department, sought the release of the undelivered text message contents, which RCCNZ received on 3 July.
A copy of the text message follows:
from_unixtime(received_time): 2013-06-03 23:50:25
status: UNDELIVERABLE
src_addr: [phone number]
dest_addr: *2
c
short_message: THANKS STORM SAILS SHREDDED LAST NIGHT, NOW BARE POLES. GOINING 4KT 310DEG WILL UPDATE COURSE INFO @ 6PM
Mr Clifford said the contents of the text message were considered, along with all other information, as part of the planning for today’s search. “The text message gives a clearer indication of the condition of the vessel on 4 June, and the
weather that was being experienced at the time,” he said.
“The text message clearly indicates that the
Nina was affected by the storm, but gives no indication of immediate
distress.
“While it shows that
Nina had survived the storm up to that point, very poor
weather continued in the area for many hours and has been followed by other storms. The text message, in isolation, does not indicate what might have happened subsequently.
“However, the text message states that
Nina’s course information would be updated in just over six hours’ time, at 6pm.
“There have been no further transmissions or messages from the
Nina since the undelivered text message on 4 June. There were also no
distress messages from either of the two distress alerting devices on board (EPIRB and Spot
satellite personal tracker),” Mr Clifford said.
RCCNZ has discussed the details of the text message and other search information gathered to date with representatives of the
family and friends of the crew.
Search and rescue officers at RCCNZ will evaluate all the information and decisions about the search operation will be considered overnight and tomorrow.
New Zealand’s Maritime
Radio is continuing to conduct broadcasts in New Zealand’s search and rescue region, and Rescue Coordination Centre
Australia (RCC Australia) is assisting with broadcasts on coastal
radio.
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