MULLET BOAT MISSING; MAORI ABOARD
AUCKLAND, Last Night (P.A.)—A 24-foot mullet boat, the Oceanic, with one Maori occupant, is missing on a trip from Tauranga to Motiti Island, about 20 miles from Tauranga, in the Bay of Plenty.
The missing man is Mr. Richard Wells, aged 26, single^of Motiti Island. '
Extensive aerial searches today by three Tiger Moths froffi the Tauranga Aero Club revealed no sign of the missing boat. The search will be continued tomorrow by sea. Parties will also scan the coastline.
The Oceanic and another launch, the Huia. left Tauranga about 5 a.m. this morning for Motiti Island, near the heads. The Oceanic passed the lluia and was not sighted again. The launch’s disappearance was realised when the Huia reached the island and the Huia immediately turned back and searched the route. When the launch was not sighted the Huia returned to Tauranga and the police were informed.
The police think it is possible the Oceanic struck a reef which runs about Rabbit Island directly across the route which would be taken by the two boats. The sea was calm at the time.
The Oceanic and the Huia are owned by two Maoris and are used to carry stores and maize to and from the island, which has a large Maori population and is highly cultivated.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WC19500429.2.46
Bibliographic details
Wanganui Chronicle, 29 April 1950, Page 5
Word Count
219MULLET BOAT MISSING; MAORI ABOARD Wanganui Chronicle, 29 April 1950, Page 5
Using This Item
NZME is the copyright owner for the Wanganui Chronicle. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of NZME. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in