Trio rescued from life raft in Pacific Ocean
Kajal Nair
, RNZ
A life raft alongside a merchant vessel.
Photo:
NZDF / supplied
Three people are safe after being rescued from a life-raft in the ocean following mechanical failure on their vessel.
Their launch was heading from New Zealand to Tonga when it ran into trouble on Thursday afternoon, around 350 nautical miles northeast of New Zealand.
A mayday was issued, and the crew activated an emergency beacon before abandoning ship for a life-raft.
The distress signal was picked up by a nearby merchant tanker, the only vessel in range.
Following this, a New Zealand Defense Force (NZDF) F8 aircraft was deployed to assist.
"Getting on-board a large vessel on the open ocean from a life raft is not an easy task," Taylor Monaghan, search and rescue officer at the Rescue Coordination Centre, said.
"This was done at night, in trying conditions as well."
At about 11pm, the trio were safely brought aboard the tanker.
A life raft alongside a merchant vessel.
Photo:
NZDF / supplied
Maritime New Zealand praised the coordinated effort and quick action of both the tanker crew and the NZDF.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter
curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
17 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Clean up of Wellington beach toxic dump site cost nearly $1 million
Te Raekaihau Point in Wellington. Photo: RNZ / Nick James Cleaning up an old toxic dump site on a Wellington beach has cost nearly a million dollars. In late 2021, a member of the public told local authorities they could see asbestos on a bank at Te Raekaihau Point, which sits between Lyall Bay and Princess Bay, an area popular for walkers, runners and cyclists. The council did investigations of the site in July 2022 and August 2023 which found evidence of asbestos, oil, heavy metals, zinc, arsenic and lead. They said it appeared the area was used for sand extraction in the 1930s, with it being back filled with waste likely in the 1950s or 60s. Earlier this year RNZ reported that the council would excavate, wrap and move to the material to the southern landfill, due to the area being at risk of erosion and storm surges that could have led to it leaking. Over three weeks in May that work was done, which also included the relocation of native lizards called Mokomoko and digging up 2,200 tonnes of waste. Wellington City Council has confirmed to RNZ that the work costed nearly $1 million with half of it being paid for by the government through the $30 million Contaminated Sites and Vulnerable Landfills Fund announced in October. A council marine and coastal project manager Joel De Boer told RNZ he was aware that there may be more sites like this around the city. "A lot of them will already be covered, some of them may already be capped over and it may not be until you know a point in time when they become exposed that action will be taken." De Boer said it was not a not cheap job to clean these dumpsites up so the council's job was about reacting to them when it could. He said that from his conversations with the Ministry of Environment there were many sites like this across New Zealand. A site validation report which would determine the final levels of any contaminants was being finished and would be peer reviewed over the next few weeks. The council expected it to show the area was safe. Throughout the Wellington region there are more than 100 closed landfill sites, many of which lay under popular parks and reserves. When RNZ first reported on the South Coast site in January environment scientist Dr Jeff Seadon said it was not surprising. "What we've got is something in the order of hundreds if not thousands of these sites around New Zealand. A lot of these sites are known by councils, but there are also a lot that are still unfound or undetected." Seadon said during the 19th and 20th centuries, waste was often dumped because it was convenient and created some extra land. He said with larger storm surges and sea level rise, these dumps were being swept out and exposed.
RNZ News
12 hours ago
- RNZ News
Two Muriwai kororā rescued from nesting box buried by mud slip
One of the kororā which was rescued after its nesting box was completely buried by a mud slip. Photo: Muriwai Environmental Trust Two kororā whose nesting box was buried by a mud slip at Auckland's Muriwai have been rescued, cared for and relocated to a safer site. In a social media post, the Muriwai Environmental Trust said its penguin team discovered the nesting box which had been completely buried by mud over the weekend. Only a small beak was visible, but thanks to quick action both little blue penguins were found alive, it said. The kororā were gently cleaned and relocated to a safer site. Photo: Muriwai Environmental Trust The pair were checked and gently cleaned before being located to a safer site with new housing so they could continue their breeding season, it said. The trust said the volunteers were trained to handle situations such as this but anyone who came across a penguin in distress should contact the Muriwai rangers or call 0800 DOC HOT, rather than trying to intervene directly. It was the penguin's breeding season and people in the Muriwai area should keep their dogs north of the Surf Tower, it said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
12 hours ago
- RNZ News
Department of Conservation cutting 71 roles to modernise the government agency
File photo. Photo: RNZ/ Nick Monro The Department of Conservation is cutting 71 roles in an effort it says to modernise the government agency. The announcement was a result of a change process released in May which originally pitched axing 84 jobs. The agency would disestablish 143 administrative and assistant roles and create 72 new ones which would result in a net loss of 71 jobs. Of the new jobs 25 would be part time. DOC's deputy director-general of organisation support, Mike Tully said the decisions weren't made lightly but are needed to modernise and operate sustainably. "This review is about making DOC work better. DOC needs to change the way we work to make everyday tasks easier, balancing our needs with the various challenges we face." Tully said the changes were part of an organisation-wide shift towards self-service, taking advantage of new technology and improved systems and processes being introduced at DOC this year. "The new systems will be more efficient and easier to use, which means more time spent on conservation and less on admin." PSA National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said that the removal of staff that monitored radios posed health and safety risks. "The current support staff have sizeable health and safety responsibilities, such as monitoring staff radio systems and helping to manage emergencies like fires. "The loss of these team members will mean that these important duties will fall on others - and pose a significant health and safety risk." Fitzsimons said that making 25 roles part time would be a blow workers who cannot make ends meet on a part time salary, and who in small towns would struggle to find other work. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
