UPDATE 1: LOST AND FOUND- SKIPPER RAISED MAY DAY ALARM

 

The survivors have a hearty meal on boat the FV Teraaka after their one month ordeal lost at sea. Pictures by FV Teraaka bosun JOJO M OSORIO

TANGA BOAT WAS SIGHTED TWICE, then went missing . .

The skipper of the lost Tanga boat raised the alarm 48 hours after his banana boat failed to reach its home Islands.

Skipper Nesik Daniel told the boat owner he was some miles off Boang Island in the Tanga group of Islands.

Boat owner judge Peter Toliken confirmed this in an interview with the Post-Courier newspaper's senior journalist Gorethy Kennedy on Tuesday.

Judge Toliken, who sits on the National and Supreme Courts of PNG, did not confirm if the message was relayed via text or voice mail.

But he confirmed receiving a message at dawn on December 25, 2021.

"The skipper last contacted us at 5.52am on Saturday, Christmas Day giving his position as about 30 kilometres North East of Boang Island," judge Toliken said.

An aerial search was delayed when some person posted on social media that the missing boat had been found.

The aerial search was further compounded by bad weather. By then the boat had drifted out towards Feni Islands.

Judge Toliken said the search was resumed in good weather and hopes were raised when reports from Bougainville indicated the missing boat was sighted twice in PNG waters.

Judge Toliken said all 10 passengers are in good health and remain onboard the rescue vessel, South Korean trawler FV Teraaka.

The FV Teraaka, which is fishing in Malaita waters, will take the Tangan Islanders to Malaita for processing.

The boat's intended route.

The boat left at 10am from Namatanai in New Ireland province for Tanga Island, just offshore from Namatanai but never arrived on December 23, 2021.

The boat and its passengers were found on January 23, 2022 after being adrift at sea for one month, about 80 miles off Malaita and St Isabel islands.

Judge Toliken said yesterday that PNG and Solomon Island  Government authorities have already been in contact for a way forward for these people.

“It did not reach its destination. We realised that it might have encountered problems on Friday December 24,” judge Toliken.

While a search was scrambled around the islands, further sightings of the lost boat were reported on December 28, 2021 and January 1, 2022.

“We immediately mounted a search on Saturday around the Tanga Group of Islands. We extended the search East to Fead Islands down to Anir Islands or Feni (NIP) on Sunday, December 26 and then onto Nissan Island in Bougainville on Monday, Dec 27,” he said.

“On Tuesday, Dec 28, we got information from Buka that the boat was sighted drifting South West of Nissan and Buka.

“It was sighted on Sunday by a boat travelling from Buka to Nissan. The skipper noticed that the boat was drifting and had passengers on it. It had an orange flag which fitted the description of the missing Milesiaro boat. 

“But the skipper did not go to the rescue because he suspected it was pirates due to the recent piracy scare between Buka and Nissan.

“On Wednesday, we mounted a search around West coast of Bougainville and up south west to Milne Bay and up north to Southern New Ireland and back to Nissan.

“On Thursday December 30 and Friday, 31st, the search continued back between Nissan and Buka and down to the West coast of Bougainville around the Torokina waters. 

Skipper Nesik Daniel who raised the alarm. 

"On Saturday, January 1, we got information from a fisherman in Buka that he saw torch light signals South West of Buka while he was out fishing.

“It was late in the evening hence he was not able to investigate because he was on a 19 footer boat powered by a 15hp engine and laden with the day's catch. 

"Hence on Sunday 2 January 2022, we made a final search, sweeping the area West and South West of Bougainville and up North to Southern New Ireland and to Nissan and back to Buka. 

"And that is when we called off the search on January 2, one week after we started the search. Exactly 8 days."

Lost & Found boat

“We had alerted the Disaster Officer in Buka, Martin Tsora, who in turn alerted authorities and communities in the Atolls of Bougainville and mainland Bougainville and Buka island. All this time, we were in constant contact with the Disaster Office in Buka and  NMSA in Port Moresby.”