Kiribati thanks US for boat rescue

The Micronesian nation of Kiribati has thanked the United States after an American icebreaker rescued a church mission boat drifting for days with 64 people on board.

The 35m Te Taobe was sailing last week from Kiritimati Island to Tarawa in Kiribati, a distance of 3200km, when its engine failed.

Ham radio operators across the US and Tonga picked up distress signals last Sunday and alerted the coastguard in Honolulu.

The icebreaker Polar Sea, returning from Antarctica, was sent to the rescue. Crew fixed the boat's engines, supplied food and water and evacuated by helicopter a teenage girl needing medical treatment.