Desperate search for two fishermen, aged 20 and 33, whose tiny boat was found washed up on rocks more than a day after they were last seen
- Two men, aged 20 and 33, never returned from their Sunday fishing trip
- They left a boat ramp in Victoria’s Westernport Bay in a small tinny at 6am
- A massive combined search effort is underway to recover the two fishermen
Emergency services are searching for two fishermen who are missing after heading out to sea on a three-metre tinny.
Jason De Silva, 20, and Geoffrey Hibberd, 33, set out in their vessel sometime before 6am in Victoria’s Western Port Bay, 85 kilometres south of Melbourne, on Sunday.
A friend called police about 9pm after being unable to reach them.
Geoffrey Hibberd (left), 33, and Jason De Silva (right) went missing on Sunday
Two fishermen went missing after they left a Westernport Bay (pictured) boat ramp in a tinny on Sunday morning
The fishermen were not in a powerful boat and had a three-metre aluminium tinny with an outboard motor as their vessel.
Victoria Police were told that the men often went fishing to the west of Phillip Island.
A massive search including the Water Police, Coast Guard and Volunteer Marine Rescue agencies was launched on Sunday night.
The Victoria Police Airwing and AusSAR Challenger Search Aircraft are also involved in finding the missing fishermen.
A Victoria Police spokesperson said that the search had located their missing boat washed up on rocks at Pyramid Rock about 11am on Monday.
The two men have not been accounted for and the search continues.
The pair undertook their fishing adventure on the first weekend since the state’s harsher coronavirus social distancing laws were put in place.
Under these restrictions no recreational fishing is allowed in a bid to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
A massive combined search effort is underway to find the pair. Pictured: Westernport Bay