Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion plane joins search for missing Pacific island fisherman

A Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion has gone to look for a fisherman missing at sea north of Tuvalu.

The New Zealand Defence Force has joined the search for a Tuvalu man who failed to return home from a fishing trip on Monday evening.

Air Commodore Andrew Clark, the air component commander, said a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion plane left Whenuapai air base in Auckland early this morning and was expected to reach the search area about midday.

The Fiji Maritime Surveillance Rescue Coordination Centre (FMSRCC), which requested New Zealand assistance late last night, said the man had gone fishing for the day near Nukufetau, an atoll about 96 kilometres north of Funafuti, Tuvalu's capital.

No personal locator beacon had been detected in the area, and the rescue coordination centre said seven local boats had been searching for the missing man since Tuesday.