Police hold grave fears for a 26-year-old man who went missing on a surf ski trip in waters off Queensland.
Jordan Kelly left Dunwich, on North Stradbroke Island, with his friend Jack McDonald, aged 28 at 10.30am yesterday.
As the pair were making their way to Cylinder Beach just after 1.30pm, Mr McDonald’s ski started taking on water and Mr Kelly attempted to assist him.
According to Mr McDonald, the pair then both held on to the one ski, until after dark when they had become weak and tired, resulting in Mr Kelly “slipping away”.
Authorities were alerted when the men failed to arrive at their camp in the afternoon to meet their partners.
Brisbane Water Police, Surf Life Saving Queensland and Coastguard launched a full-scale rescue mission just after 2.30pm yesterday, however neither men were able to be found.
At 8pm last night, after being at sea for some 10 hours, Mr McDonald managed to make his way to Amity Point Wharf.
He was treated at the scene for minor hypothermia and has since been with reunited with family.
An air search continued throughout last night looking for Mr Kelly. It will conclude at 1am and resume again at sunrise. It is currently still underway.
So far, the search has found no trace of Mr Kelly and authorities hold grave fears for his welfare.
Acting senior sergeant Mitch Gray said swells have been between four and six metres high with south-easterly winds up to 20 to 30 knots.
“To describe the conditions, I would say they are hazardous,” Sgt Gray said.
“Not suitable for the activity they had planned to do.
“We’re doing everything we can, with everything we’ve got. We’ve got over 16 vessels and we’ve got eight aircrafts which have flown over 440 square nautical miles of ocean to try and find him.”
Sgt Gray said as time goes on “we become more and more concerned we will not have a happy ending”.
The search will continue into tonight and will recommence tomorrow morning, with the intention to search for a further two days.
Mr Kelly is understood to be in good physical health and was training for a surf ski event at the Sunshine Coast, giving authorities some hope.
Mr Kelly’s family members are believed to be flying in from New Zealand today.
This content first appear on 9news