Man Missing from bulk carrier Blue Wave

Search suspended after man falls from bulk carrier

By Ellesa Throwden - ABC

Updated July 08, 2012 17:19:26

The search for a man who fell from a bulk carrier off the New South Wales north coast has been suspended.

The 36-year-old from the Ukraine fell off the Cyprus-registered Blue Wave ship bound for Newcastle around 7:00pm on Saturday night between Cape Bryon and Evans Head.

Three helicopters, a plane, the water police and the missing man's crew have been scouring the coastline.

The Australian Maritime and Safety Authority is coordinating the search and spokesman Jonathan Wills says time is running out.

"The water temperature is 21 degrees and the advice that we've got is that around lunchtime tomorrow is the end of that window of survivability," he said.

Authorities say they are not sure if the man was wearing a life jacket or why he fell overboard.

The rescue operation will resume at first light on Monday morning.

 

Search resumes for man overboard

Jessica Huxley   |  07:35am July 9, 2012 - GoldCoast.com.au

 
AN extensive air and sea search for a man missing in the ocean off northern NSW has been extended to this afternoon.

It is believed the 36-year-old crewman, of the Ukraine, fell overboard when his boat passed the coast between Cape Byron and Evans Head early yesterday morning.

The man was working on Cyprus-registered bulk carrier Blue Wave. Fellow crew members say they are unsure exactly when the man may have fallen into the ocean.

Jonathan Wills from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said four helicopters, a plane and vessels from the Coffs Harbour water police would assist in the search, which has been extended to about 2.30pm today. 

Crews were hoping to make a breakthrough before the "survival period" expired at 10am but are now searching waters further south of the original focus, which was between Cape Byron and Evans Head.

The search team includes rescue helicopter teams from CareFlight, Westpac Lismore and Emergency Management Queensland.

A spokesman from CareFlight earlier said search teams were pooling their resources in a bid to help find the missing man.

The Blue Wave vessel was on its way to Newcastle yesterday but had turned around to assist in the search and rescue operation for the crewman.

Another AMSA spokesman said it was believed the man was able to swim. However, it was unknown if he was wearing a life jacket at the time he fell overboard from the vessel.

He said weather conditions were good yesterday and had not hampered the search in any way.

 

Search for missing man

By Donna Harper 9 July, 2012 9:53AM AEST - ABC
 
A search continues for a man who fell from a bulk carrier off the north coast on the weekend.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority says a 36-year-old man went missing from the Cyprus-registered Blue Wave ship between Cape Byron and Evans Head on Saturday night.

The Authority is co-ordinating the search with three helicopters, water police and a plane.

Its spokesman Jonathan Wills says it's unusual for a crew member to fall from a large bulk carrier.

"It is a very uncommon event. We would only respond to maybe two or three in a year in Australian waters.

"It was really unclear what safety equipment he had on him at the time. This morning's effort really is a last ditch

attempt to see if we can locate the man" says Mr Wills.

Crewman missing off Evans Head

Paul Appelkamp | 9th July 2012 7:41 AM  - Ballina Shire Advocate

RESCUE services are racing against the clock to find a missing Ukrainian crewman who fell overboard from the Cyprus bulk carrier, Blue Wave, somewhere between Byron Bay and Evans Head.

At 7pm on Saturday, the 36-year-old man fell from the ship which was situated 30 nautical miles off the coast.

Yesterday morning the Australian Maritime and Safety Authority initiated a search with a dedicated rescue Dornier aeroplane, a police vessel from Coffs Harbour and four helicopters, including the Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter.

The missing man was not found and the search was suspended until this morning.

Australian Maritime and Safety Authority communication manager Jonathan Wills said search conditions were favourable.

"The conditions are actually fine - there's no white caps, which is good because white caps confuse the search," he said.

"The water temperature is 21 degrees, which is okay, but it's not particularly good if you're overboard.

"It's significantly below body temperature and any significant amount of time at that temperature can be dangerous.

"Conditions are good for a search but conditions are never good for survival, so we obviously have grave concerns."

Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter air crewman Jimmy Keough took part in the search yesterday and said the man was believed to be wearing minimal clothing and no flotation device.

Mr Wills had said the search would resume at first-light this morning.

"Given the time he fell overboard, we've given him a survivability of lunch-time (today)," he said.

Blue Wave was destined for Newcastle but has remained in the area to assist with the search.

 

Scaled back search for man overboard

By Bruce MacKenzie 9 July, 2012 1:41PM AEST - ABC
 
The search for a man who fell from a bulk carrier off the north coast is being scaled back.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority says a 36-year-old man went missing from the Cyprus-registered Blue Wave ship between Cape Byron and Evans Head on Saturday night.

The authority has been co-ordinating a renewed search since early this morning, using helicopters, water police and a plane.

Spokesman Jonathan Wills says the water temperature has been around 21 degrees, and the man's chances of survival in the ocean are starting to fade.

"We sought expert medical advice last night about how long he would likely stay alive in these conditions, and the estimate we got from the medical expert was that his survivability wouldn't be viable after around lunch time today," he said.

"So we were determined to try and get as many vessels and aircraft out there to search today."

 

Search for missing man called off

9 July, 2012 4:12PM AEST
By Bruce MacKenzie - ABC
 
The search for a man who fell from a bulk carrier off the New South Wales north coast has been called off.

A 36-year-old man went missing from the Cyprus-registered ship Blue Wave between Cape Byron and Evans Head on Saturday night.

A search involving helicopters, water police and a plane has found no trace of him.

Johnathan Wills, from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, says there's no realistic hope of finding the man alive.

"There are no whitecaps on the surface of the water, so from a search-and-rescue point of view they were good conditions," he said.

"But at a temperature of 21 degrees Celsius, if you were a person in the water, that would have been a very challenging survival situation."