Marvin Bugeja, the uncle of 11-year-old Theo, yesterday released a bouquet of white flowers from a low-flying plane into the sea where the ill-fated Simshar fishing vessel sank.

It was an emotional moment for the crew of four - two pilots flying the Piper plane and the two fishermen - who yesterday scoured the sea between Malta, Lampedusa and the Libyan border in search of boy who has been missing for nine days.

Charles Azzopardi, the owner of Azzopardi Fisheries which has leased the plane for the Bugeja family, said the search will be called off if today's nine-hour mission fails to find the boy's body.

"The current could have dragged the boy to several places by now and if by Sunday (today) we still have found nothing we will end the search," Mr Azzopardi said.

For the past three days, the plane has been leaving Malta at 8 a.m., flying as low as 200 metres above sea level, in the hope of finding Theo, who is the only one missing from the original crew of five.

"The plane is flying so low that they can even see the fish in the sea and the nets. It's been a very emotional period for everyone," he added.

Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of Malta plans to continue its aerial operations today and has no plans to call off the search in the "immediate short-term," a spokesman said.

As everyone rallies to find the body of the young boy, his father Simon Bugeja, the only survivor, was yesterday undergoing an operation for his injuries.

Meanwhile, the three other fishermen - Noel Carabott, 33; Carmelo Bugeja, 61; and Somali national Abdulrahman Abdala Gedi, 21 - who were recovered at sea cannot be buried until their bodies are released by the magistrate heading the inquiry.

Jason Cini, the brother of Mr Carabott's wife Stephania, said this was delaying the family's need for closure.

"We don't know if the funerals will be held within days or months.

"The truth is we don't even know what is holding things up. There isn't one person who has kept us posted on developments and we have to keep chasing people for information and following the media," he said.