Wellington - How and why 75-year-old solo German sailor Eric Poehlmann went missing after his yacht capsized off New Zealand might never be known, police said Wednesday.

There was no trace of Poehlmann, who is presumed dead, when a fishing boat came across his 9.5-metre sloop Motu drifting off the Coromandel Peninsula June 19. Police said the case would be referred to a coroner.

Nothing had been heard from Poehlmann since his last radio contact on May 29 after he left the port of Opua in the Bay of Islands for Noumea, capital of the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia.

A police statement said that given the length of time since his departure and the distance between Opua and where his vessel was discovered, it was highly unlikely that a search for him would be held.

It said he missed several radio schedules, and New Zealand's Rescue Coordination Centre had posted a notification to shipping to watch out for his boat. (dpa)