Rescued DoC rangers set out again for volcano island

The five conservation rangers evacuated from Raoul Island after a volcanic explosion believed to have claimed the life of their colleague are heading back to the island.

Jim Livingstone, Morgan Cox, Melanie Nelson, Evan Ward and Lynda McGrory-Ward are returning to help recovery operations and to assess the damage from Friday morning's eruption. Their colleague, Mark Kearney, 33, is feared dead after being caught in the eruption.

The five were joined by three colleagues, including Raoul Island programme manager Mike Ambrose, on board the RV Braveheart, which left Tauranga for the island at 9.30pm on Saturday.

Also on board are two police officers and two scientists.

Ms McGrory-Ward's father, Greig McGrory, said he was not worried that she and Mr Ward, her husband, had gone back.

"They'd been there before; they understand that it's an area that's active. They're going into it with their eyes wide open.

"They're a pretty close-knit group of people, so I can understand them wanting to get back there and bring some sort of conclusion to what's happened."

He had spoken briefly to his daughter twice since Friday. The first call came late on Friday night to say she had touched down at Ardmore Airport and another call on Saturday let him know the five were taking private time to decide their next move.

DoC spokeswoman Fiona Oliphant said the return mission was expected to arrive at Raoul tomorrow.

"If they can land, the police will be making an assessment on whether it's feasible to make any recovery operation. If it's feasible to stay - if it's safe - then some of the DoC staff will stay on the island and just continue with the programme."

The five will help assess the damage to their field base and carry out any necessary repairs.

"They're well and fit, and they know the area very well. They're the obvious people to [do this] - and they wanted to go back."

Meanwhile, GNS Science, which monitors seismic activity on the island, has defended its decision not to evacuate the island following a swarm of earthquakes from Sunday to Tuesday last week.

Brad Scott, GNS' volcano surveillance co-ordinator, said standard procedures, such as increased monitoring, had been followed. Earthquake activity had declined significantly after last Tuesday.