A planned search of a Tongan island today for two men lost at sea has been postponed due to large swells.
Two full days of aerial and on-water searches have so far failed to find the two Australian men, both in their sixties, whose 50ft Bavaria yacht Navillus broke up after it ran aground on Thursday.
The pair contacted a relative in Victoria via satellite phone, and an emergency locator beacon was activated at the same time, about 10.30pm.
The yacht's wreckage was found on Friday but extensive searching on the water, as well as an aerial search of over 191 square nautical miles by a RNZAF P3 Orion, failed to find the men.
Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand mission coordinator John Dickson said an attempt to search the island of Late, west of the island of Vava'u, was to be made today, however 3m swells have made it impossible to safely land search teams.
"Conditions will be reviewed in the morning when we hope the swell will have abated," he said.
It is the second day in a row high swells have hampered efforts to search the volcanic island.
