MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Hope is fading for a Tavernier family who, who along with a crew of four, vanished in a schooner in the South Pacific near New Zealand.
New Zealand’s Rescue Coordination Centre released the last-known text message from a crew member aboard the 70-foot “Nina” which was sent June 4th.
“Thanks storm sails shredded last night, now bare poles. Goining (sic) 4kt 310deg will update course info @ 6PM.”
Because of privacy laws, it took weeks for the U.S. government to authorize the satellite phone carrier Iridium to release it.
Captain David Dyche, his wife Rosemary and their son David were bound for Australia on May 29th when they ran into bad weather.
Authorities believe the “Nina” likely sank in a storm the day the message was sent but have continued an aerial search, hoping that survivors may have made it into a life raft the boat was carrying or to land.
Nigel Clifford, Maritime New Zealand’s general manager of safety and response services, said the message indicated the Nina would update its position about six hours later, which it never did.
“While it shows that Nina had survived the storm up to that point, very poor weather continued in the area for many hours and has been followed by other storms,” Clifford said in a statement.
Authorities didn’t state why the text message went undelivered or who it was sent to.
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