Tribute paid to boss feared dead in ocean
The chief of a world famous rose-growing firm near Wolverhampton today paid tribute to a company director who is feared dead after falling into the Pacific Ocean.
Luke Stimson, from Shifnal, was sailing home from Japan to England but plunged into the water almost 500 miles from land on Saturday night and has been missing ever since.
The 38-year-old had been the Asian director of Albrighton-based David Austin Roses in Japan for the past three years and was on the trip with his fiancée Laura Vernon.
She was hoisted to safety by a rescue helicopter in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The search for Mr Stimson was called off yesterday.
Today the firm's owner and managing director David Austin spoke of his shock at Mr Stimson's disappearance.
He said: "Luke's gregarious open nature gave him the ability to connect with people from all walks of life. He had enormous energy which gave him the capacity to achieve a great deal.
"We are indebted to him for the three years of hard work he put in for us setting up our gardens and offices in Japan which, thanks to him, are absolutely magnificent.
"Luke was a talented young man who was comfortable travelling anywhere in the world providing insight into new opportunities for the company.
"On a personal level, I greatly admired and respected him. He had an incredibly positive attitude to life and he will be sadly missed."
The coastguard said it was unclear how Mr Stimson, who was conscious and wearing a life jacket, fell overboard in conditions which were described as not particularly bad.
The vessel, believed to be privately owned, was about 2,000 miles west of the Hawaiian island of Oahu and 500 miles west of the remote Midway Atoll at the time. Navy helicopters and the warship USS Peleliu were used in the search.
