The search for a man who fell off a cruise ship near the Mahia Peninsula is continuing, but poor weather is expected to make things difficult.
The man was travelling on the Norwegian Jewel on Sunday night when he is believed to have gone overboard.
Three helicopters, two container ships, two yachts and the Norwegian Jewel all searched for the man on Sunday but were unsuccessful.
On Monday morning, the search continued but weather has experts concerned.
"The search will continue today but the conditions have deteriorated," said Rescue Coordination Centre spokesperson Vince Chloewa.
A Coastguard unit from Napier and a helicopter from Gisborne will continue the search for the man on Monday.
Winds of 32km/h mean the swell is increasing.
"One of the issues that the choppy seas create is it's much harder to see a person in the water - also create an issue with the swell for the boats that are searching, [threatening the] safety of the crew in the boats," Chloewa told Newshub.
"The helicopter becomes more important to provide aerial support for the search."
Chloewa says cruise ship staff followed protocol perfectly.
"As soon as the cruise became aware a person was overboard it began its own man overboard procedure by gathering all passengers, checking CCTV footage and notifying rescue control."
A tracker shows the ship has left Mahia and is travelling on to Auckland - minus one passenger.
