Hopes fade for two fishermen

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33052, 20 October 1972, Page 1

Hopes fade for two fishermen

(From Our Own Reporter! NELSON, October 19.

With the coming of night and the withdrawal of the searching helicopter, hopes receded for the safety of two Nelson fishermen who put to sea at Kahurangi Point on the West Coast yesterday morning.

This evening a section of a bulkhead found about six miles from where the vessel entered the water was positively identified as having come from the 18ft jet boat So-Big in which the two men were travelling.

The missing men are John Rodney Ryan, aged 49, of 549 Waimea Road, Nelson, a commercial fisherman and father of three children, and Godfrey Elliott Thomas, aged 24, of 8 Norwich Street, Stoke, a part-time instructor with the Nelson Aero Club and a part-time fisherman. Mr Thomas has been marled about six months. The two men, who are in■olved in a joint crayfishing enture using the fishing and lying abilities of both, flew o Kahurangi Point about 6 .m. yesterday. They were Constable N. C. Shepherd looking at a section of the bulkhead incorporating a depth indicator which has positively been identified as coming from the vessel.

I expected back in Nelson by : I p.m. When they did not [arrive by 5 p.m. Mrs Ryan in[formed the police. By 2 am. today the scale of the search for the two men was stepped up and an ; R.N.Z.A.F. Orion was brought in to cover the area. A helicopter from Nelson joined the Orion this morning. The ground search and res-

cue party comprising Nelson police and members of the Golden Bay search and rescue organisation, spent tonight in the Kahurangi lighthouse. They will resume the search of the rugged and isolated shoreline in the morning. It is not known if the men were wearing life-jackets but some were among debris discovered about eight miles north of the point of entry. Nor is it known if the men were setting cray pots or emptying them. Of three life-jackets found, one bears the name, "Ryan.” A section of the boat’s bow, a depth recorder, and a windscreen were found off shore. The wreckage was secured and brought ashore by helicopter. Before it was withdrawn from the search at 11.30 a.m. an R.N.Z.A.F. Orion maritime patrol aircraft assisting with the search picked up an object on its radar in the area. The helicopter pilot was not able to find the reported object, but located the bow section while searching for

Concern was felt for the men last night when a Nelson Aero Club aircraft flew over the area. The pilot saw the men’s aircraft on the ground and a boat trailer nearby.