Body found after yacht runs aground at Mooloolaba, man missing after falling overboard from second vessel - ABC News

A massive air and sea search is underway to find a fisherman who fell overboard from a trawler off the Sunshine Coast early this morning.

Key points:

• Five search vessels, two helicopters and a Bombardier jet are all involved in the search for the missing man
• The Coast Guard is fearful the fisherman may have fallen overboard while leaning over the side of the boat
• The person who fell from the yacht may have been in the water for up to two hours

The crew on board the boat called for help about 3:45am after they circled back to find the man but could not locate him.

The Sunshine Coast Lifeflight helicopter was sent to the main search site, about 27 nautical miles east of Peregian Beach just after 4.15am.

The Mooloolaba Water Police search vessel joined the search before first light and a second police vessel has joined from Brisbane.

By 10:00am, the Bombardier Jet from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority had also begun searching the area.

The Noosa and Caloundra Coastguard have also been called in to help.

Mike Middleton from Mooloolaba Coastguard, which is monitoring the situation, said the seas were rough.

"Fisherman often lean over to connect nets and things and the seas are quite rough at the moment at 2 metres and we've got 15-25 knots coming up," he said.

"You've got about four or five vessels out there, two helicopters and a jet – hopefully that'll help find this guy.

"They're really seriously poor conditions to be out there today. Not good for a search".

The search is being led by the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Canberra.

Empty yacht runs aground

In a second unrelated marine incident a body was found after an empty yacht ran aground at Mooloolaba Beach.

Mr Middleton said residents reported seeing someone fall from the boat near Maroochydore.

"Some people from a resort are believed to have seen somebody fall off the yacht," he said.

"They watched this person fall off as they were pulling the sail down."

The yacht ran aground on the beach at the tourist destination with little damage, but with lights on and music playing.

The first teams to board the vessel found a passport belonging to a 57-year-old man from the United States.

The Mooloolaba Coast Guard has returned to sea to ensure no other passengers were onboard the yacht that washed ashore this morning.(ABC News: Tara Cassidy)

The Mooloolaba Coastguard have continued to search the area where the body was found.

Ian Hunt from the Mooloolaba Coast Guard said they were unable to confirm if the person was alone on the yacht.

"Hopefully because they found the person only 500 meters off the beach it shouldn't be too hard to cover that area and verify there wasn't anyone else in the boat," he said

Mr Hunt said the yacht had tracked from north of the area at Double Island Point towards Mooloolaba, with water police activating a search from Hervey Bay.

"We got a call from a member of the public to say they had seen someone on the front of the yacht trying to get the sail down and so the assumption was they had fallen over during that exercise," he said.

Initial investigations suggested the deceased person may have been in the water for up to two hours before being found.

Mr Hunt said the search team have had to contend with rough seas and windy conditions throughout the morning, which have hampered search efforts.

"[We've had] up to 25 knots which is about 50 kilometres per hour and it's about 2 to 2.5 metre seas ... so not very good for boating," Mr Hunt said.

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2020-05-18 03:12:17Z
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