A teenage boy has been referred to the youth court after a report of a boat was in trouble in the sea outside Nelson Harbour turned out to be a hoax.
Search and rescuers received the distress signal via marine radio last night, scrambling a helicopter and launching a coastguard vessel and two other boats to search for the "stricken" vessel.
After an hour and a half of fruitless searching, however, rescuers turned their attention to the individual who made the distress call, assistant search and rescue coordinator Russell Tucker said.
"It's a real worry, and we're putting our people in danger for nothing -- flying a helicopter at night, 500-600m above the ground," he said.
A 16-year-old boy was subsequently interviewed, and would be dealt with by the youth court, Nelson police said.
