NZDF to help search for missing Kiribati fishermen

A Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion aircraft has been sent to search for three missing Kiribati fishermen in the Pacific Ocean.

The search for three fishermen missing in the Pacific Ocean resumed this afternoon after being delayed by bad weather.

A New Zealand Defence Force Orion has been sent to help in the search for the men.

Air Commodore Darryn Webb, the Air Component Commander, said the men were last seen at 6am on October 14 leaving in a 5m boat from Betio Island, the largest township of Kiribati's capital city, South Tarawa.

"They were expected home on Saturday afternoon. A local patrol boat conducted a search but has not seen them," Webb said.

A Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion aircraft - originally tasked to conduct a fisheries patrol north of New Zealand - had been reassigned to help in the search following a request from the Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand.

The Orion is expected to reach the search area, estimated to encompass 30,000sq km, about mid-afternoon.

The defence force was also called in to help search for a Tongan fisherman who went missing earlier this month.

The NZDF flew 234 hours on 19 search and rescue missions in New Zealand and the Pacific in 2016, up 59 per cent from the 147 flying hours recorded the previous year.