Divers stranded for 19 hours after boat leaves

Three commercial kina divers left in the water after their boat failed to return and pick them up were lucky to escape unscathed after a fishing trip went awry in Port Gore in the Marlborough Sounds.

The decision to leave the divers in an isolated part of the Sounds has been labelled "stupidity", and will be looked at by Maritime New Zealand (MNZ).

After delays in raising the alarm, the Marlborough Volunteer Coastguard and the Westpac Rescue helicopter were called to search for the men, finding them around midnight on Friday night.

They had spent about 19 hours in the water and were cold, wet and tired, but otherwise fine.

Constable Paul McKenzie of Picton police, the search and rescue controller for the incident, said the three Blenheim men, in their early 40s and 50s, had spent most of the day snorkelling for kina off Cape Lambert on the western side of Port Gore on Friday.

They had been in the water since about 7am, and were going down for their last dive at about 3pm in an area called Pig Bay.

He said the driver of the boat arranged it so that he would go and unload the catch in Picton and would return to pick them up at about 5pm.

But on the return trip the engine failed around Motuara Island and the driver was unable to raise the alarm until early evening.

Dive Marlborough owner Brent McFadden said to leave the divers at Port Gore was "straight out stupidity".

It was a long way from Picton to Port Gore, and there were forecast northerlies of up to 40 knots, he said.

"It probably wasn't life threatening, but it seems a strange decision to leave people in a remote area."

MNZ spokesman Ross Henderson said the divers had made life difficult for themselves by not having proper communications.

They could have had a waterproof radio, or even a cellphone inside a waterproof bag.

"They put themselves at unnecessary risk doing that. Essentially if people don't have effective communications we can't rescue them,'' he said.

And it was an offence for a boat operator to put people or property unnecessarily at risk or danger. MNZ would be making inquiries into the incident, he said.

The boat, the Psst Too, is run by Picton's Waikawa Fishing Company.

The owner, Tim McLeod, and the divers were out diving again today and not available for comment.

Marlborough Volunteer Coastguard operations manager Graeme Ward said the alarm was raised at 8.36pm and the coast guard was paged at 9.08pm.

The coastguard boat, Interisland Rescue, was able to leave Picton minutes later, and found the stricken Psst Too near Motuara Island, and picked up the driver from the Queen Charlotte Wilderness Park.

The Wellington-based Westpac Rescue helicopter was called in because of the large area and the delays involved, Mr Ward said.

Weather and sea conditions were moderate at the time, Mr Ward said.

The three divers were found by Interisland Rescue not long after the boat and helicopter arrived in the bay at Hunia Point.

The three divers were returned to Picton aboard Interisland Rescue, towing the Psst Too.

McKenzie was not sure why the driver of the boat could not raise the alarm earlier, but the divers were unaware that he wasn't coming back for them.

On nightfall they had decided to dump their gear and they decided to swim towards Melville Cove, which was about 5km away.

McKenzie said kina divers generally didn't dive more than about 10m from shore, but the coastline in that area was mostly rocky cliffs, and unsuitable to climb up.

The Westpac Rescue helicopter was also called in at about 10.30pm because it had "night sun'' lights.

The men were brought back to Picton at about 2.30am and did not require hospital treatment.

The men had high quality wetsuits with hoods and gloves.

McKenzie said the men were not caught in a rip, but the situation could have been life threatening.

"He knows it probably wasn't the correct or best thing to do. It probably wasn't the wisest of things to do to leave the divers."

"Divers should never be left to free dive without a boat or a diving flag,'' he said.

McKenzie said it was fortunate that there was a full moon, which made searching easier.

"There was good visibility, but it was still difficult. We did a couple of sweeps, but without the night sun over us, it was difficult to see in the rocks.

"But it's difficult at night searching for people in black suits."