Divers missing
UPDATE: A massive air and sea search has started for two American divers missing at Ribbon Reef, off Lizard Island, north of Cairns.
Water police are co-ordinating an air and sea search for the pair who disappeared after entering the water about 10am today.
The divers, a man and woman, were on a trip with Mike Ball Dive Expeditions which operates out of Cairns.
They were believed to be aboard Spoilsport, regarded as one of Australia’s best dive boats.
The Ribbon Reef, near Lizard Island, is also renowned for some of the best big game fishing in the world.
A spokeswoman from the Department of Emergency Services said their helicopter was assisting in the search.
"The EMQ chopper from Townsville has been asked to assist in the search for two missing divers off Cooktown,'' the spokeswoman said.
All vessels in the area have been alerted to keep a watch out for the pair.
Visibility at the reef is believed to be up to 15m, which authorities hope will assist with the search.
Today’s incident comes 11 years after US Peace Corps workers Thomas Joseph Lonergan, 34, and his wife, Eileen Cassidy, 28, vanished while diving in the blue waters around the small coral head known as Fish City on St Crispin Reef, 38 nautical miles northeast of Port Douglas.
Keep monitoring cairns.com.au for more on this story.
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