Marine Rescue Bermagui and Narooma crews stood down for the day from Haywards Beach search

Marine Rescue NSW vessels Bermagui 30 and Narooma 30 have returned to base after volunteer crews conducted more than five hours of searching for a boater believed missing on the South Coast after an unmanned boat washed up at Haywards Beach yesterday afternoon.

Image: Bermagui 30 will be back on the water tomorrow for a third straight day

Marine Rescue NSW Inspector Glenn Sullivan said both Marine Rescue NSW vessels completed multiple legs of a parallel line search between Camel Rock and Bermagui Harbour before being stood down for the day.

“Both crews completed thorough search patterns pushing further seaward after each leg.

“Our volunteers from the Narooma and Bermagui units have displayed total commitment on the water looking for any signs of a missing person.

“Narooma 30 began returning to base at 1:40pm while the crew on board Bermagui 30 completed another sweep of the southern end of the search area before being untasked for the day,” he said.

Image: NA 30 searches the waters off Haywards Beach

“A volunteer crew will back on board Bermagui 30 tomorrow to resume searching in a revised area,” Inspector Sullivan said.

“Our vessel crews and radio operators from both Marine Rescue Bermagui and Narooma worked seamlessly again today not only with each other but with the entire multi-agency response led by NSW Police Marine Area Command,” he said.