Desperate search for triathlete, 35, missing off the Queensland coast

There are grave fears for a Queensland man who vanished as he and a mate made a desperate dash for the shore after their jet ski took on water.

Choppers, boats and drones are searching for triathlete Luke Howard, who was in the water and being towed when he disappeared off the Sunshine Coast on Monday afternoon.

The 35-year-old and a friend had been fishing from the craft when it got into trouble near Mudjimba Island and they had to head for shore.

The 35-year-old and a friend had been fishing from the craft when it got into trouble near Mudjimba Island and they had to head for shore.

On Monday police said he’d been in the water and was unable to get back onto the jet ski.

‘They’ve tried to come into shore with the missing person holding onto the jet ski. But unfortunately, with the stance that they’ve come, somewhere in that journey he’s come off the jet ski,’ Senior Sergeant Matt Campbell told reporters.

Visibility is good and the sea flat, eroding hopes he might have survived.

‘That was the same for the conditions yesterday, which sort of don’t indicate any chance he would have been on the surface,’ water police Sergeant Kyle Bates told the ABC on Tuesday.

‘We would have expected with the amount of coverage we had that we would have sighted something.’

Police have spoken to the man’s distraught friend, who made it back to the beach, abandoned the jet ski and raised the alarm.

Friends say Mr Howard is fit and are hoping his physical strength might have allowed him to survive a night in the water.

Police have spoken to the man’s distraught friend, who made it back to the beach, abandoned the jet ski and raised the alarm