A passenger boat carrying 8 passengers that has gone missing in the waters of New Ireland Province for the last 4 days has been located around midday today.
After 4 days of searching the waters of New Ireland Province the boat and all the passengers have been found safe and sound on Tench Island.
Mr Chris Paul a Mussau Islander who was involved in the search and rescue mission of the missing 8 said, the passenger boat on Friday 24th December left Tsoi Island around 6am in the morning to travel to Mussau Island but never reached its’ destination.
A search and rescue team was sent out to search for the missing passenger boat and villages along the coastline including islanders were also on the lookout for the boat.
Around midday today the search and rescue team were informed that the passenger boat with the 8 passengers have been found safe and are at Tench Island.
Mr Paul said boats have been sent to Tench Island to bring these passengers back to Mussau Island.
“It’s a great relief to know that these loved ones are not dead; the important thing is that they are all safe and the boats have gone to bring them back home to Mussau,” said Mr Paul.
More details on what actually caused the boat to go off cause and missing for the last 4 days, how the survivors are doing now and what they encountered during these 4 days will be made available as soon as this newsroom speaks to any of the survivors.
Image Source: Femili Studio