The search for a 16-year-old boy missing since a boat capsized at Palm Beach on New Year’s Eve has been suspended, NSW Police announced yesterday afternoon.
The teenager was aboard a small runabout with two men, aged 45 and 47, when the vessel encountered difficulties in rough swell near Barrenjoey Headland just after 11.30am on Wednesday, 31 December 2025.
The boat was washed onto rocks at the base of the headland, throwing all three occupants into the ocean. None of the three were wearing life jackets at the time, despite reports that at least one life jacket was later found amongst debris from the vessel.
Northern Beaches Council lifeguards and Surf Life Saving NSW lifesavers quickly arrived at the scene, locating the 47-year-old man in the shallows. He was unconscious and without a pulse when pulled from the water. Despite immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation by rescuers and the arrival of NSW Ambulance paramedics and the Toll NSW Ambulance Rescue Helicopter aeromedical team, the man could not be revived and was pronounced dead at the scene shortly before 12.15pm.
The 45-year-old man managed to reach the rocks near the capsized boat and climb to safety, sustaining injuries to his lower legs in the process. After the helicopter crew completed their efforts with his companion, they rescued him from the rocks. He was subsequently transported by road to Royal North Shore Hospital in a stable condition shortly after 2.00pm.
The surviving man informed rescuers that the teenage boy had also been thrown from the boat. Witnesses at the top of Barrenjoey Headland reported seeing a person wearing a white shirt in the surf before losing sight of them in the waves.
An extensive search operation commenced, involving Northern Beaches Council lifeguards on jet-skis, Surf Life Saving NSW lifesavers in inflatable rescue boats, NSW Police Marine Area Command, Marine Rescue NSW, the NSW Rural Fire Service, and both the Toll NSW Ambulance Rescue Helicopter and Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter.
Search teams examined the base of the headland in case the boy had managed to reach the rocks and find safety. However, as boat debris began washing ashore around 1.00pm, the operation transitioned from a rescue to a recovery mission.
Lifeguards deployed dye packs into the water to help helicopter crews track currents that may have carried the missing teenager. Police divers searched the waters near where the boat struck the rocks before the search concluded for the day at approximately 5.30pm.
Marine Area Command continued daily search efforts, but following a final sweep by the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter yesterday afternoon, the active search phase was suspended. A NSW Police spokesperson confirmed that Marine Area Command will continue to patrol the Barrenjoey Headland area.
The deceased man was a resident of Sydney’s North Shore, according to NSW Police, though authorities declined to comment on the relationship between him and the missing boy. The age difference suggests they may have been father and son, though this has not been confirmed.
Police are preparing a report for the NSW Coroner as part of an ongoing investigation into the tragedy. The investigation is expected to examine several aspects of the incident, including the skipper’s experience, the decision to take the vessel out in unsuitable conditions, and why the occupants were not wearing life jackets despite one being available on board.
The boy’s age was initially reported as 14 but was later confirmed to be 16.
Published 5-January-2026
