Exactly 10 days after a ferry carrying 50 people from the island of Kiribati (which lies in the Pacific Ocean east of Australia) went missing, the New Zealand air force was proud to report that they have just spotted a small vessel with seven survivors of the probable shipwreck on board.
They have posted the image on their Twitter Feed a few hours ago.
New Zealand Defence Force Air Commodore Mr Darryn Webb stated: “The crew has dropped them aid supplies containing water, food and a radio and are currently trying to establish communication with them.”
“The Orion will continue to search the area, making every effort to locate any more survivors, while awaiting the rendezvous with the fishing vessel.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">UPDATE || A Minimum Aid Delivery Device has been dropped from the Orion containing water & a radio to the dinghy. Comms has been attempted but could not ascertain origin. 55% of the search area is now complete. Orion holds position overhead & people onboard, waiting for vessel. <a href="https://t.co/Al0wy6LuML">pic.twitter.com/Al0wy6LuML</a></p>— Royal NZ Air Force (@NZAirForce) <a href="https://twitter.com/NZAirForce/status/957417717438472192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">28 January 2018</a></blockquote>
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Questions remain as to what happened to the catamaran carrying 50 people whilst the New Zealand Rescue Coordination Centre confirmed that the dinghy found was indeed one of the two carried by the missing vessel, the MV Butiraoi.
Mr John Ashby, who coordinates the rescue missing for New Zealand, stated: "The group seem very relieved to have been found." Current sea conditions were "moderate to rough" as a fishing ship was sent to get the people out of the dinghy.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Imagery that was taken from the <a href="https://twitter.com/NZAirForce?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NZAirForce</a> P-3K2 Orion as the fishing vessel picked up the seven survivors from a ferry with 50 people on board that was reported missing in Kiribati a week ago. The Orion crew found the dinghy earlier today: <a href="https://t.co/eAQJGM14Ul">https://t.co/eAQJGM14Ul</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Force4Good?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Force4Good</a> <a href="https://t.co/avoUhxnc9b">pic.twitter.com/avoUhxnc9b</a></p>— Royal NZ Air Force (@NZAirForce) <a href="https://twitter.com/NZAirForce/status/957488818998792193?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">28 January 2018</a></blockquote>
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No further details about the fate of the 57ft wooden catamaran or its other passengers are available.
Source:
7 found at least is a positive spin vs. 43 still missing