Samoans cling to wreckage for 24 hours in huge seas

Four naked Samoan fishermen clung to debris from their sunken boat in huge seas for 24 hours before being spotted by the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

The men, who had no lifejackets, stripped off their clothing to help stay afloat.

New Zealand Rescue Co-ordination Centre spokeswoman Heidi Brook called it an amazing survival story that had emerged from the biggest sea rescue undertaken by the centre in the Pacific.

"They were in the sea about 24 hours battling 15m-high swells and winds gusting to 190km/h. But at least the sea temperature was 29 degrees, it's not like it was the Atlantic."

An Air Force Orion dropped a dinghy to the men at 5pm on Thursday, and they were later picked up by boat.

The air search was continuing northeast of Samoa last night for another two of the crew, still missing after Cyclone Olaf struck.

Ms Brook said 23 of 25 fishermen had now been plucked from liferafts or stricken boats in the international rescue effort.

 

New Zealand's search and rescue area extended as far north as the Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga.

Another fishing boat was found yesterday with six people safe on board by a US Coastguard Hercules aircraft. The boat, Samoan Boy, was last heard from two days ago when the crew reported they were in Olaf's path.

Rescue centre mission co-ordinator John Dickson said waves had pounded the wheelhouse during the storm and windows were broken.

The vessel had been dead in the water and the crew unable to communicate with anyone.

The American Hercules found the boat at 2.45pm, about 168km northeast of American Samoa.

"We're now contacting the nearest vessel in the area to assist with towing her to safety."

On Thursday night a commercial vessel reached an American-registered fishing boat, Princess Karlina, which was disabled east of American Samoa.

The rescue vessel helped the Princess Karlina get going and it was heading back to Samoa.

The vessel Malinda had, meanwhile, reached a fishing boat with three injured crew and was towing it back to Apia.

Cyclone Olaf was starting to weaken and head away from the southern Cook Islands group where, to the relief of locals already battered by Cyclones Meena and Nancy, it never got close enough to cause serious damage.

The MetService said yesterday that Olaf was passing 500km north-west of Rarotonga on a southeasterly track away from the southern Cooks.