Investigators talking to survivors of the sinking of a South Korean deep sea trawler last week now believe the skipper went down with his ship.
The Oyang 70 went down suddenly, 740km east of Dunedin, early on Wednesday.
Three bodies were recovered and three men, including the master, are presumed dead. The bodies of the Indonesian men will be repatriated this week.
The 45 survivors of the Oyang 70 were interviewed over the weekend after being rescued by a New Zealand trawler belonging to Talleys, the Amaltal Atlantis, which brought them to the port of Lyttelton on Friday morning.
The crew are from Indonesia, Korean and the Philippines. Thirty-seven left New Zealand for their homes on Monday.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission says its inquiry into the sinking could take a year to complete.
Listen to more