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14 taken to Rabaul
By ELIZABETH VUVU
THE 14 missing travellers from Tanga Island, New Ireland, have been
rescued by fishing vessel Fair Champion 707 and were brought to Rabaul
last Thursday afternoon.
Dixon Kondaul, East New Britain provincial fisheries officer in Rabaul,
said the group was met at the Rabaul wharf by Government boarding
parties including officers from fisheries, customs, health/quarantine
and coastal shipping.
The islanders were picked up at about 2:30pm last Jan 17 off Solomon Sea
and were looked after by the ship’s crew.
They were onboard the vessel for six days whilst it fished until last
Thursday when they finally sailed into Rabaul at 4:30pm.
Hillary Sele, group spokesman and dinghy operator, said all 14
passengers had already lost hope while they drifted for six days.
He said each day they grew more worried and wearier.
However, Mr Sele said that he believed they would be rescued by passing
vessels, especially fishing vessels.
While they were drifting out at sea, they would see lights of passing
vessels at night but could not attract their attention as they had no
navigational aids onboard or even a torch, he recalled.
On the day they were rescued, he said all the boat passengers were fast
asleep and that he was the only one awake.
Mr Sele used all his strength to tie a laplap to a paddle and waved it
to catch the vessel’s attention.
The group had left their Fonli village in Tanga on Jan 11 for Lihir to
sell garden food at the Lihir market.
Mr Sele said the sea was not that rough when they left Tanga. However,
they experienced rough seas and strong current along the way.
Since the tide was so strong, they used up the reserved zoom fuel before
they could even reach Lihir island.
By then, their boat had started drifting out to sea.
Mr Sele said that for six days, they survived on raw corn and pumpkins
and rain water collected using the boat’s canvas.
 
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