MV Butiraoi

600km
373miles
Nonouti
Betio
Betio and Nonouti in relation to other islands of the South Pacific

The MV Butiraoi was a 17.5-metre (57 ft) wooden catamaran that operated as a ferry in Kiribati. On 18 January 2018, it left the island of Nonouti carrying 88 passengers. Bound for Betio, the ferry was planned to make the 240-kilometre (150 mi) voyage in two days. According to survivors, the overloaded ferry broke in half and sank.

The ferry was reported missing on the 19th. On 26 January, Kiribati notified authorities in Fiji and New Zealand who, along with multiple fishing vessels, searched the areas surrounding the ferry's planned path. Australia and the US joined in the aerial search in the days that followed. Two days later, a Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion patrol plane spotted a wooden dinghy containing seven passengers of the Butiraoi, who were then rescued by a nearby fishing vessel. The aerial search was called off on 1 February, with some fishing vessels continuing the search. No further passengers were found.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.