Wellington  - An air and sea search continued Tuesday for a small boat with five people aboard missing off the coast of New Zealand's North Island.

An Air Force maritime surveillance plane with sophisticated night vision equipment found no sign of the 5.5-metre boat, whose skipper sent a text message to his wife on Monday afternoon saying they were lost and needed help.

Two men and three boys, aged 16, 12 and 11, are on the boat which left the small Bay of Plenty settlement of Maketu, in the Bay of Plenty, about 8:30 am on Monday on a snorkelling trip to an offshore island.

Rescuers said that poor weather in the area which had hindered the search on Monday was fading and search parties were checking a large area of coastline for any sign of the boat or its occupants.

Hopes that the missing people, whose names have not been released, would be found soared Tuesday morning when the Rescue and Co- ordination Centre said family members reported receiving another text message asking for help believed to be from the boat at about 6 am.

But they said efforts to call and text those on board had been unsuccessful. (dpa)