Marine Area Command

Skipper arrested after vessel overturns – Reef Beach

Water Police, deployed as part of OPERATION MEDALLION, arrested the skipper of a boat after reports the vessel was in difficulties last night in waters off Manly.

About 8.45pm last night (Tuesday 26 January), Marine Area Command personnel received a Triple Zero(000) phone call that a half cabin cruiser with three people on board capsized approximately 200 metres off Reef Beach.

There were also reports of two men and a woman in the water, clinging to the overturned vessel. Water Police deployed three vessels, including one with a NSW Ambulance Special Operations Paramedics on board.

Police and Ambulance helicopters were also involved in the search.

All three people who were in the water were retrieved by passing yachts prior to emergency services arriving. There were no reports of injury as a result of the incident.

The master of the vessel, a 30-year-old man from Ryde, was subjected to a breath test which returned a positive reading. The man was arrested and taken to Manly Police Station where he failed a breath analysis.

The man will be issued with a future service Call Attendance Notice (CAN) for failing a breath analysis.