Tokelau fishermen found adrift in South Pacific: New Zealand authorities

Three men adrift in the Pacific for more than 30 hours in a dinghy with only a single bottle of water have been found safe and well near the island nation of Tokelau, New Zealand rescue authorities said Thursday.

The men in a 5-meter aluminum dinghy became lost on Tuesday afternoon after a squall separated them from a fleet of small fishing vessels off the coast of Tokelau's Nukunono Atoll, the Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) said.

A New Zealand air force P3 Orion flew to the area Wednesday and located the dinghy after a four-hour search at around 5 p.m, about 33 km east of Atafu, RCCNZ search and rescue mission coordinator Mike Roberts said in a statement.

The Orion refueled and guided a local barge to the dinghy with the rescue completed about three hours later.

"The men had no lifejackets, flares or food, and a single bottle of water between them they were obviously delighted when the Orion flew overhead," said Roberts.

"They had a relatively new outboard motor, but it seems they lost sight of land after the squall and headed in the wrong direction."

The three men in the dinghy were taken on board the rescue vessel and returned to Atafu atoll.

It was the second South Pacific emergency the New Zealand air force had responded to in the past 48 hours, said a statement from the New Zealand Defense Force.

On Tuesday a P-3K2 Orion located Tongan fishing vessel Pacific Sunrise, which had issued a distress signal due to no power and flat batteries on board.

The Orion dropped a spare VHF radio to the vessel enabling the crew to re-establish essential communication and coordinate a rendezvous with another vessel. Endi