Maketu coastguard rushing to rescue a flaming boat off the Papamoa coast found instead a vessel stacked with wood, no crew and no motor.
Tauranga police senior sergeant Stu Graham said someone had towed the 10-foot boat to sea and set it on fire .
"One of the attending officers said the boat was burned down to the waterline, so we may not have too many markings to go on," he told NZPA.
Police continue their investigations into the case of the abandoned, flaming boat tomorrow.
