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National Sea Rescue Institute volunteers were activated on Monday night, following eye-witness reports of multiple red distress flares sighted off-shore of the Richards Bay port.
NSRI spokesperson, Craig Lambinon says a Transnet National Ports Authority helicopter, that was in the air at the time on a routine flight, was diverted to investigate.
He says the aircraft's crew confirmed that the suspected distress flares were in fact Chinese lanterns.
Lambinon says it appears that a group of people on the beach had set it off.
He says the NSRI continues to urge members of the public not to set off Chinese lanterns around the coast, as they are most often mistaken for distress flares.
