Three people confirmed dead after Port Lincoln fishing boat accident
A young boy and his father are the only survivors of a horror family fishing trip, with police confirming three people have now been found dead.
SA News
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Three people have been confirmed dead after a freak wave capsized a fishing vessel near Spilsby Island, off Port Lincoln.
A desperate search on Tuesday hoped to find more survivors after a 12-year-old boy and his 44-year-old father were found on Tuesday morning, clinging to a reef.
However, the bodies of three people have since been recovered in the vicinity of the vessel.
The two survivors told police their boat capsized at about 4pm on Monday, leaving them treading water for at least 12 hours before they were rescued.
Police were not alerted to the incident until 8.30pm on Monday, when it was reported that five people, understood to be close friends and family members, had not returned from a fishing trip off the Spencer Gulf coast.
About 2am, PolAir located the vessel near Spilsby Island and winched the father and son, both from Torrens Park, to safety.
Both were taken to Port Lincoln Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The body of a third person was found in the water at about 6.30am, while the fourth person was located just after 9am in the vicinity of the vessel.
The fifth person’s body was found at about 2.15pm.
All three bodies were taken back to Port Lincoln by the State Emergency Service, with police are now preparing a report for the coroner.
A man overnighting at the Billy Lights boat ramp said police mid-morning Tuesday forced their way into a car parked with a trailer attached, and had it towed away.
He said he saw the group leave for the boat trip on Monday, and watched one of the rescue vessels bring back one of the bodies to the same location.
An experienced fishing charter operator described the conditions around Spilsby Island as “near magic” on Monday.
“There was a little bit of swell, but it was glassy conditions,” he said.
“Tuna have been hanging around there this year.”
But Buffalo Reef - understood to be one of the only in the area - was a known risky spot for experienced boaties.
“It’s not a rock you want to get onto,” he said.
The recovered boat hull, which was lifted from the water upside down and taken to shore onboard a commercial fishing vessel the Delamere, was extensively damaged on the rocks.
It was taken to a private marina operated by Australian Fishing Enterprise from where the stricken vessel was then taken to a police holding yard.
The boat will be subject to forensic investigation.
Police said the capsized boat did not send out any radio distress calls or flares before the tragedy unfolded.
Numerous messages across marine radio channels alerted vessels in the area, who took part in the search, including a P&O cruise ship that was in the area at the time of the accident.
A P&O spokesperson said the ship had responded to a call to help the vessel in distress while taking 2400 guests on a 3-night voyage to Port Lincoln and Kangaroo Island.
The ship was due to arrive in Port Lincoln this morning but that has been delayed and Pacific Explorer will now arrive in Port Lincoln tomorrow.
A 12-year-old boy has been airlifted to Adelaide after being rescued on a reef off the coast of Port Lincoln.
— 9News Adelaide (@9NewsAdel) March 26, 2024
The child was on board a fishing boat with four other people when it capsized.
He was rescued alongside his father more than 12 hours later.
One other person has been… pic.twitter.com/exlj87NG5x
The owner of Port Lincoln Fishing Charters – who asked not to be named – told The Advertiser he spent most of Monday fishing near Spilsby Island.
“I was fishing around Spilsby Island between 8am to 4pm yesterday (Monday),” he said.
“I saw about five other boats around me, one was a larger vessel and the other four were trailer boats about 20 feet long.
“But the water conditions yesterday were absolutely stunning, it was an easy journey between Port Lincoln and Spilsby.”
Port Lincoln-based fisherman Jarrod Day said he had concerns over the “large swells” in the water.
“These reefs are nothing to be messed with,” he told FIVEaa.
“At the moment we’ve got a large swell going on and it picked up yesterday morning.
“Look, hopefully everyone is safe and sound but they might have come down and got stuck on one of those reefs down there – Buffalo Reef is a rock in the water and can break.”
Port Lincoln mayor Diana Mislov said she would not be making a statement at this time.
She said that out of “the greatest respect for the families and individuals involved, as well as our emergency services working on the rescue”, it was best for SA Police to comment on the unfolding situation.
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