Kiribati

Help sent for people traumatised by Kiribati ferry disaster

An aerial search for the catamaran has been called off and least 80 people remain missing, many of them children.

Kiribati is said to be traumatised by the event and UNICEF and the World Health Organisation say they're working to support the government in the emergency medical response.

They're providing medical supplies and training and the WHO is deploying extra emergency staff.

UNICEF says it’s working to support schools, families and communities to deal with the tragedy and get back to a normal routine.

Kiribati suspends aerial search for sunken ferry passengers

Maritime New Zealand this morning confirmed the directive which came through the Rescue Coordination Centre in Nadi in Fiji.

Maritime New Zealand's Vince Cholewa says authorities in Kiribati say they will be continuing with several vessels involved in their ocean search.

Mr Cholewa says they will be focusing on the area around where the MV Butiraoi is believed to have gone down with around 88 men, women and children on board.

He says they will also be tracking back along the route the catamaran is believed to have taken from its last port of call at Nonouti Island.

Kiribati ferry was ordered not to carry people

About 80 people are missing, although the government hasn't confirmed the exact number. A New Zealand military plane using radar found a small wooden dinghy on Sunday that was carrying seven survivors who told rescuers the ferry sank.

Kiribati, which has about 108,000 people, declared a week of prayer as the search for more survivors continued. The U.S. and Australia have joined New Zealand in the search, as have several fishing boats in the area.

Kiribati confirm more than 80 were on board sunken ferry

The Kiribati government is being heavily criticised by the public for failing to report the boat missing a week after it was scheduled to arrive in the capital Tarawa from the island of Nonouti.

For the last four days a New Zealand P3 Orion has been searching an area of ocean larger than 300,000 square kilometres.

Seven survivors were rescued on January 28 and the search continues for a life raft that was launched from the sinking ferry.

National week of prayer after tragic Kiribati ferry loss

In his address aired nationwide on the national radio, Radio Kiribati, President Maamau called on all churches and their members to join together in prayer for those who have lost their lives and their families.

“Based on this incident and unconfirmed reports, the Government has declared this week as the national week of prayer to help our fellow citizens who have been caught up in this tragic ordeal and all their families,” said President Maamau.

“The Government is requesting all Churches and their members including all the people of Kiribati to join hands in prayer”.

Three missing Kiribati fishermen found

The New Zealand Rescue Coordination Centre said the men were lucky their family raised the alarm quickly when they did not return home as planned over the weekend.

Search and Rescue Officer Chris Wilson says the boat the men were in did not have a motor but did have a sail which took them in an unexpected direction.

Scores of dolphins stranded in Kiribati outer island

The dolphins were spotted after the construction of the village’s maneaba ‘Bibitoinikarawa’ was completed.

One resident, Tabukinikai Tabwanou told Radio Kiribati News the incident occurred between 10am and 12pm on Tuesday this week.

Tabukinikai said this is not new because it has been happening over the past years.

He said every time a new ‘maneaba’ is constructed or renovated, scores of dolphins will be seen swimming towards the shore.

He said the occurrence is part of the Kabuna village tradition for many years.

Russian monarchist eyes Kiribati for Romanov revival

Anton Bakov, a businessman and the founder of Russia's Monarchist Party, said the project involved setting up the capital on Malden Island, where he planned to build hotels.

The proposed empire also included Caroline Island and Starbuck Island.

Mr Bakov, who used to be a parliamentarian, visited Kiribati last year, and claimed the government had approved the establishment of the empire on its territory.

He has reportedly also been in talks with Montenegro to get land for a royal state.

El Niño blamed for out-of-season central Pacific cyclone

Cyclone Pali is currently above the equator in the ocean between the Marshall Islands and Kiribati, about 1300km southwest of Hawaii.

A forecaster at the US National Weather Service in Hawaii, Alistair Foster, says Pali is one of the earliest recorded in the central Pacifc, where the cyclone season is not due to begin for another five months.

Mr Foster says it's not unprecedented to have out-of-season cyclones in an El Niño year, with warm ocean temperatures allowing them to develop.

Kiribati struggles to keep its population afloat

 

Dusk settles over Eita, a neighbourhood on Tarawa, Kiribati's main atoll, as inhabitants lift their potted plants from the ground to safety.

They place them on tables, benches, any elevated platform they can find.

Waves crash with increasing ferocity against the nearby home-made seawall.

On the other side of the settlement, the tide continues to swell. Soon, sandbags begin to collapse.

 Runnels meander in from all directions, pushing rubbish ahead of them, water inches deep rises around huts.

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