Fishermen adrift at sea rescued south of Tuvalu

FUNAFUTI, 05 MARCH 2018 (RNZ PACIFIC) — Three fishermen adrift at sea for 24 hours have been rescued south of Tuvalu over the weekend.

The Nadi Rescue Coordination Centre said the men set off a distress signal around 4pm on Saturday about 144 kilometres south of Funafuti.

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A New Zealand PC3 Orion located the men and their six metre skiff a few kilometres from where they set off their personal locator beacon.

They were then picked up by a merchant vessel the MV Talomoana around 4 on Sunday afternoon.

It is understood the vessel was now returning the men to Tuvalu.

The rescue coordination center is awaiting a final report on the incident from the Tuvalu government. PACNEWS [/restrict]