A man is presumed missing at sea from a bulk carrier ship - the UK registered Berge Rishiri - off the Otago coast.
The man - a Chinese national - was last seen at 8am on Saturday when he finished his shift on the vessel, Maritime NZ said in a statement today.
He failed to report for duty at 4pm on Saturday.
The crew completed a search of the vessel, and the ship returned along its track to search for any signs of the missing person in the water, Maritime NZ said in a statement.
An extensive search along the Otago coast was also conducted by an Otago Rescue Helicopter and a nearby vessel.
The search is now on hold, while a thorough review is undertaken to assess the likely success of additional search effort.
A cold-water survivability expert engaged by Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) believes there is little chance the person would have survived.
"All search assets have now been stood down pending the search review and assessment.
"Our thoughts are with the family of the missing person," the statement said.
Broadcasts continue to shipping in the area, requesting all vessels maintain a sharp lookout
Maritime Union urges full investigation
In a statement on Sunday night, Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Craig Harrison said this kind of incident is more common than many people realize, adding "that the loss overboard of a crew member aboard a bulk carrier is very concerning".
He said New Zealand needs to be doing more to protect the welfare of international crews in our waters.
Harrison said he would like Maritime New Zealand to investigate whether the crew were having adequate rest breaks, and that they were not required to secure any cargo while underway.
He said it is a common practice with some New Zealand stevedores with low standards to have overseas seafarers lash cargo when the vessel is underway, rather than shore based stevedores doing the work in port.
"The sea time the crew member had been working for also needed to be investigated," he said.
“We would like to know how long the seafarer had been at sea and on duty and have assurances they were not kept on the vessel longer than their contracted period, as we have seen huge mental health issues with seafarers basically kept captive on vessels for months and sometimes years.”
Harrison said the Maritime Union and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) would like the opportunity to meet the crew and talk about their welfare, and what the shipping company and also the company and the cargo owners are doing for the crew and family of the lost seafarer.
He urged New Zealand authorities to do a full investigation into the incident.
There are around 400,000 Seafarers working on cargo vessels globally. Official figures show that between 2015 – 2019, 527 were killed at sea and 509 went missing.
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