NSRI calls off search for missing seaman

The National Sea Rescue Institute has ended its search off the Western Cape coast for the remaining crew member of a skiboat that went missing in rough seas on Saturday.

"There will be no further official search of the area, other than the standard procedure of alerting authorities in the area to be on the lookout," NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon told reporters on Monday.

The boat and one body, believed to be one of the two-man crew, were found near Cape Point by the time the day's search ended at 4pm on Sunday.

Lambinon said five rescue boats and a Dakota aircraft from the Ysterplaat Air Force base in Cape Town were used in the search.

"The intensive search, conducted and concentrated where the body and the boat were found, revealed nothing. We are confident we covered the area thoroughly. We have asked boats in the area to keep a lookout over the next few days to see what the sea reveals to us."

Lambinon said the body found still had to be positively identified. "We have confirmed that we have found the vessel, named Ntombi."

The search for the ski boat started at first light on Sunday after it went missing on Saturday. The two-man crew of the blue and black boat had set off before dawn that day to go fishing off Hawston reef near Hermanus when their craft developed engine problems.

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