Kiribati Ferry Search Expands After 7 Are Found Alive
Air Commodore Darryn Webb said Monday that the seven survivors were still on the fishing boat
that had rescued them, because New Zealand’s military needed it to stay in the area in case more survivors were spotted during an air search.
29, 2018
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Searchers examined an expanding zone of the Pacific Ocean around the islands of Kiribati on Monday in hopes of finding
more survivors of a ferry sinking after rescuers found seven passengers alive on an aluminum dinghy following more than a week at sea.
Despite information from the survivors about where the ferry sank, Commodore Webb said
that a week of ocean currents and wind meant searchers were covering an "exponentially larger" area of ocean every day.
Commodore Webb said that with passengers and fishermen traveling between Kiribati’s 32 atolls, often in "rudimentary
vessels," it was not unusual for voyages to run late, or for New Zealand to be called upon to help find boats.
He said the survivors had told rescuers that the ferry split in two and sank, and
that they were able to use the dinghy because it detached from the larger vessel.
In the meantime, he said the seven survivors would stay at sea in the fishing boat until other arrangements for a rescue boat were made.
