Search for ferry in Pacific Ocean with 80 passengers on board continues

Baku. 31 January. REPORT.AZ/ More than 80 people were on board of passenger ferry that disappeared in the Pacific Ocean.

Report informs citing the TASS, this was reported by authorities of the Pacific island state of Kiribati.

The representative of the national rescue service said that there were about 80 passengers and five crew members on board.

It was noted that the head of Kiribati intends to make an official statement on the incident on January 31.

Notably, an emergency with the ferry occurred on January 18. The vessel MV Butiraoi left Noonuti island and two days later it was to arrive to the capital's Tarawa island, located about 280 km to the north-west. Then signals from vessel ceased.

At first, only the authorities of Fiji were engaged in searches, but on January 27, the Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) joined the operation.

On January 28, seven passengers of the ferry were rescued. New Zealand patrol aircraft discovered a drifting boat with people in the ocean. Survivors said that the vessel sank. At the same time the passengers had little time to be saved. Currently, the search for other ferry passengers continue by New Zealand, Australia and the US.