Tag Archives: New Zealand Air Force

Fishing vessel with NZ links believed to be at centre of Fiji beheading at sea

The TIRO II is listed as belonging to Nelson-based company Ocean Vision Ltd on the Ministry for Primary Industries website, and is shown to be near Fiji on the international Marine tracking website. The longline tuna boat and its crew have been at the centre of a major search operation in Fijian waters since six men abandoned ship after the alleged beheading. Five of the six men who jumped overboard remain missing. >click to read< 08:48

Crew members questioned after alleged beheading at sea onboard a tuna longliner

Six crew members from the vessel the F/V TIRO II jumped overboard during the reported “violent incident” on Monday. One person was aboard a life-raft, with the other five entering the water without lifejackets. The man in the life-raft has been found, with the Fijian Rescue Coordination Center releasing photos of the moment he was located on Wednesday. After taking on water Thursday night, FV TRIO II sank yesterday morning. photos, >click to read< 09:03

Two Kiribati fishermen lost at sea for 7 days, found in six minutes

Two Kiribati fishermen lost at sea for days were found on Wednesday just six minutes into a search that targeted a massive patch of ocean, New Zealand rescue officials said. Search coordinator Mike Roberts described it as a “fantastic” outcome after a New Zealand Air Force Orion located the men 480 kilometres (298 miles) from Nauru, the nearest land, five days after they went missing. “I can’t recall another search being successful so quickly,” Roberts said, adding that the Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand determined the most likely area to look for the men who failed to return from a fishing trip on Friday. Rescuers had marked 43,000 square kilometres of ocean to scour for the operation. Read the rest here  16:31