A Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion has found the last missing crew member of a fire-damaged Chinese fishing vessel.
The man was spotted clinging to a buoy on Saturday near where the ship was discovered the day before, about 400 nautical miles west of Tuvalu.The plane dropped a life raft which the man boarded.
The Orion is now working with the crew of another Chinese ship to rescue him from the water and will stay overhead as long as possible.
The P-3K2 Orion came across the badly damaged ship, which is named Jin Xiang 6, while on a fisheries patrol on Friday.
After an initial search it had to return to Nauru but was sent out again on Saturday morning to look for crew members who were believed to be in the water.
Eighteen people were on board the ship, four of whom were reported overboard.
The Air Force found the distressed vessel’s sister ship, Jin Xiang 7, which had rescued 17 crew members, including three of those reported overboard.
As the missing man has now been found, all crew members are accounted for.
The fire is under control, the NZDF said in a statement.
The Orion dropped fresh water, communications equipment and lighting to the crew on Friday, which helped establish communication with the vessel.
A Hercules C-130 aircraft had been on standby to support if needed.
Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) was notified about the ship’s fire and was gathering information to see what assistance could be provided to Fiji, which was co-ordinating a response.