A boatie is feared missing at sea near Auckland’s Great Barrier Island as Cyclone Gabrielle approaches.

A police spokeswoman said police responded to reports of a boat in distress about 2.15am on Monday. “Enquiries are ongoing to locate one person aboard a water vessel near Great Barrier Island,” she said.

Throughout the morning, the Police Maritime Unit, with assistance from the Eagle helicopter, had attempted to approach the boat. “However, conditions have been challenging and at this stage no one has been located,” the police spokeswoman said. “Police will make further attempts to approach the vessel when conditions allow.”

MetService meteorologist Alwyn Bakker said, as of this morning, the former tropical cyclone system was sitting 200km almost directly north of Great Barrier Island.

The storm was forecast to come close to Great Barrier later today, bout 100km from Auckland, before starting to make its way southeast towards Coromandel, the Bay of Plenty and on to Gisborne.