Wellington: The New Zealand air force searched for 29 fishermen today after the charred remains of their boat were found abandoned near the South Pacific island nation of Kiribati.
An initial search turned up "no sign of the missing life rafts or crew," Rescue Coordination Center spokesman Ross Henderson said.
The last radio transmission from the Taiwan-registered vessel, a personal call on a satellite phone from the captain to his wife in Taiwan, was received by authorities in Taipei on October 28,New Zealand Air Commodore Gavin Howse said.
"There was no indication that anything was wrong at that point," Henderson told The Associated Press.
Howse said three life rafts and a rescue boat were missing from the Ta Ching 21,a positive sign the crew was able to abandon ship safely.
"Despite the time that has elapsed since the vessel's last transmission, air force personnel can successfully locate missing vessels in the most adverse conditions," he said.
New Zealand air force spokesman Glenn Davis was less optimistic. Given the limited information available there was "a slim chance" of finding the missing fishermen, he told National Radio.
"To be honest, we don't even know they re in the rafts or what happened," Davis said. "We re still hopeful, but it s a big ocean and small life rafts, unfortunately."
A Korean fishing crew found the deserted vessel, which had Taiwanese, Chinese, Filipino and Indonesian crew, drifting near Kiribati's Phoenix Islands on November 9,Henderson said.
