Picture: The Tongan patrol craft VOEA Savea
Two fishermen were missing since Tuesday 6 in a small boat somewhere between Niuatoputapu and its surrounding islands.
Police said the 58 and 49-year-old men were known to go out fishing on their own on one of the reefs around the island.
A search and rescue effort is underway to find the duo.
The incident happened on the same day the New Zealand P-3K2 Orion located the Tongan fishing vessel Pacific Sunrise this week after it had issued a distress signal due to no power and flat batteries on board.
“The Orion successfully dropped a spare VHF radio to the vessel enabling the crew to re-establish essential communication and coordinate a rendezvous with another vessel”.
