‘No one was on board': Rescue abandoned after grim discovery
Emergency services were called to Batemans Bay Marina about 8pm on Saturday after the 56-year-old Sussex Inlet man failed to return from a daylong fishing trip.
About 1.20pm on Tuesday, Australian Maritime Safety Authority's Challenger aircraft found the fisherman's empty boat east of Narooma.
Nearby commercial fishing boats assisted in stabilising the drifting cruiser amid choppy sea conditions. The vessel is being towed back to shore.
Police were informed that Mr Buchanan had departed the marina about 6am aboard an eight-metre Arvor cruiser. He was last spoken to about 10am.
When he didn't return as expected, concerns were raised and emergency services were notified about 7.20pm.
A search operation was launched by the Marine Area Command, with support from South Coast Police District officers, Marine Rescue NSW and AMSA.
The search area was expanded significantly, stretching from Port Stephens in the north to the Victorian border in the south.
NSW Police marine area command officer detective chief inspector Anthony Brazzill said Mr Buchanan suffered from diabetes and police had not ruled out the possibility he suffered a medical episode onboard.
'The gentleman does have health issues managing diabetes that we're extremely concerned about … we understand he had the medication,' Inspector Brazzill said.
'But if something did happen where he had an episode and couldn't get to his medication, that is our grave concern.'
Mr Chaffey said Mr Buchanan had been planning to fish for tuna near the continental shelf and potentially stop for a dive on the way back on Saturday.
'(Mr Buchanan) was very safety conscious,' he said.
'He always lets the marina know where he's going, when he's going.'
A close friend of Mr Buchanan, and manager of the Batemans Bay d'Albora marina, Mitch Chaffey, told the ABC Mr Buchanan was a highly experienced waterman.
'Geoff's been around the water his whole life, very experienced in the water and on the water, fisherman, skin diver, who knows his way around a boat,' Mr Chaffey said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
3 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Even for less than honourable professions, this was way out of bounds
It is a serious allegation which, if proven under Victorian law, would make Sam Groth, a parliamentarian with ambitions to lead his party and the state, guilty of a sex crime against a minor. The Herald Sun investigation did not substantiate the allegation, which on Wednesday was denied by Groth. Instead, it has created a likely test case for Australia's strengthened privacy laws, which include a new statutory tort for serious invasion of privacy. The paper's interest in the Groths' sexual history was piqued by the Groths' comments in previous interviews when they said the first met in 2011 at the Templestowe Park Tennis Club. This would make Brittany 16 or 17 years old and Sam Groth either 23 or 24. Drill reported that unnamed Liberal Party colleagues raised the issue with Groth amid concerns it could be weaponised by his political opponents. This suggests Groth's enemies within the Liberal Party fuelled this grubby exposé. Groth says the matter was never raised with him by a colleague. He also says neither he nor Brittany – the only two people who know the circumstances of when their sexual relationship started – spoke to the Herald Sun about the story before publication. The Groths' lawyers, defamation expert Patrick George and barrister Sue Chrysanthou, SC, are the team which successfully sued former Liberal leader John Pesutto on behalf of colleague Moira Deeming. On Wednesday morning, their legal letter landed in the inbox of Herald Sun editor-in-chief Sam Weir. Loading If this case progresses to trial, it will be nervously watched by rival media organisations including Nine, the publisher of this masthead, which lobbied for years against the introduction of a statutory privacy tort. The concerns notice seen by this masthead makes clear that while the defamatory imputations are against Sam Groth – the most serious being that 'he sexually assaulted Brittany when she was under 18' and 'committed a crime of sexual assault against a minor in his care or supervision' – the most egregious invasion of privacy was against Brittany Groth. Any woman, even one married to a politician, should be safe in thinking their teenage sexual history is off-limits to political skulduggery and newspaper snooping. The concerns notice describes the decision to 'name and shame' Brittany Groth as an alleged victim of child sexual assault as a 'grotesque act'. 'There was no basis to allege that any relevant sexual misconduct took place merely because our clients are said to have met when Mrs Groth was 17,' the notice read. 'Mr Groth has not been charged with any crime, or even investigated or questioned by police.' The privacy laws recognise media freedom as a countervailing public interest. The Herald Sun, which is standing by its reporting, will seek to test the strength of this provision. The outcome of any trial could have far-reaching implications for journalism and the politicians we report on. But at its heart, this story turns on questions that, frankly, feel wrong to ask. Are any of us entitled to know when and in what circumstances a politician and their partner consummated a loving, ongoing relationship? To return to Ferguson's observation about journalists, we're not awful people, really.
The Age
3 hours ago
- The Age
Even for less than honourable professions, this was way out of bounds
It is a serious allegation which, if proven under Victorian law, would make Sam Groth, a parliamentarian with ambitions to lead his party and the state, guilty of a sex crime against a minor. The Herald Sun investigation did not substantiate the allegation, which on Wednesday was denied by Groth. Instead, it has created a likely test case for Australia's strengthened privacy laws, which include a new statutory tort for serious invasion of privacy. The paper's interest in the Groths' sexual history was piqued by the Groths' comments in previous interviews when they said the first met in 2011 at the Templestowe Park Tennis Club. This would make Brittany 16 or 17 years old and Sam Groth either 23 or 24. Drill reported that unnamed Liberal Party colleagues raised the issue with Groth amid concerns it could be weaponised by his political opponents. This suggests Groth's enemies within the Liberal Party fuelled this grubby exposé. Groth says the matter was never raised with him by a colleague. He also says neither he nor Brittany – the only two people who know the circumstances of when their sexual relationship started – spoke to the Herald Sun about the story before publication. The Groths' lawyers, defamation expert Patrick George and barrister Sue Chrysanthou, SC, are the team which successfully sued former Liberal leader John Pesutto on behalf of colleague Moira Deeming. On Wednesday morning, their legal letter landed in the inbox of Herald Sun editor-in-chief Sam Weir. Loading If this case progresses to trial, it will be nervously watched by rival media organisations including Nine, the publisher of this masthead, which lobbied for years against the introduction of a statutory privacy tort. The concerns notice seen by this masthead makes clear that while the defamatory imputations are against Sam Groth – the most serious being that 'he sexually assaulted Brittany when she was under 18' and 'committed a crime of sexual assault against a minor in his care or supervision' – the most egregious invasion of privacy was against Brittany Groth. Any woman, even one married to a politician, should be safe in thinking their teenage sexual history is off-limits to political skulduggery and newspaper snooping. The concerns notice describes the decision to 'name and shame' Brittany Groth as an alleged victim of child sexual assault as a 'grotesque act'. 'There was no basis to allege that any relevant sexual misconduct took place merely because our clients are said to have met when Mrs Groth was 17,' the notice read. 'Mr Groth has not been charged with any crime, or even investigated or questioned by police.' The privacy laws recognise media freedom as a countervailing public interest. The Herald Sun, which is standing by its reporting, will seek to test the strength of this provision. The outcome of any trial could have far-reaching implications for journalism and the politicians we report on. But at its heart, this story turns on questions that, frankly, feel wrong to ask. Are any of us entitled to know when and in what circumstances a politician and their partner consummated a loving, ongoing relationship? To return to Ferguson's observation about journalists, we're not awful people, really.
The Age
9 hours ago
- The Age
Overseas criminal suspects linked to synagogue firebombing probe
Police are examining exiled tobacco kingpin Kazem 'Kaz' Hamad as part of investigations into whether offshore criminals worked with Victorian associates to firebomb the Adass Israel Synagogue. The overseas investigations were confirmed after the Victorian Joint Counter-Terrorism Team (JCTT) on Wednesday arrested a Werribee man, 21, as part of an ongoing investigation into the firebombing in Ripponlea on December 6, 2024. Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Krissy Barrett said investigators were working with Australia's Five Eyes security partners to ensure 'our collective powers and capabilities are drawn upon', but would not answer questions about which countries they believed the attack's masterminds were based in. 'Our investigation is not limited to Australia. It involves exploring criminals offshore, and we suspect these criminals worked with criminal associates in Victoria to carry out the arson attack,' Barrett said. Five Eyes is a multinational intelligence-sharing network which includes Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand. Barrett also said authorities were investigating links to exiled tobacco kingpin Kazem 'Kaz' Hamad. 'That is a name that has come up in our investigation, and that remains one of our ongoing lines of inquiry,' she said. Hamad was deported to his home country Iraq in July 2023. He has been a central figure in Melbourne's so-called tobacco wars and spent extended time in prison. Victoria Police alleges the 21-year-old Werribee man was one of three individuals who broke into the Ripponlea synagogue and set the fire, but would not divulge if they believed he was involved in orchestrating the attack, or if he was a low-level criminal hired to carry it out.
