Six Americans and one British man vanished three weeks ago while sailing from New Zealand to Australia.
A New Zealand meteorologist was the last person to hear from the crew on June 4 during severe weather. The crew was experiencing 68 mile-per-hour winds and swells 26 feet high. Authorities have been unable to contact the crew via radio or locate them from the air.
“The vessel, built in 1928, left Opua on 29 May and has not been heard from since 4 June, when the vessel was about 370 nautical miles west-north-west of Cape Reinga,” Maritime New Zealand said in a press release today.
The crew has a satellite phone and an emergency beacon. The ship also has a spot beacon, which be programmed manually to send a tracking signal. Authorities have not received a signal from the emergency beacon.
"No sign of the vessel has been found. We do hold grave concerns for the Nina and her crew but remain hopeful of a positive outcome,” Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand search and rescue mission coordinator Kevin Banaghan told NBC News.